For several days, ANI and multiple television channels ran with a storyline that a rebellion had broken out inside the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP). 

Their source was one man, Manish Brahmbhatt, who, on September 3, announced he was breaking away to form a rival outfit called CJP(Democratic) or CJP(D). They treated it as a genuine internal crisis, but what most of them left out was who Manish Brahmbhatt actually is.

The announcement that became a headline

ANI uploaded Brahmbhatt’s launch event running for over 56 minutes to its YouTube channel on September 3. Within hours, clips of it were circulating across digital and television media. ANI itself cut a 13-minute clip titled, “CJP rebel Manish Brahmbhatt alleges AAP of funding Cockroach Janata Party & Dipke, announces split.”

A separate 2-minute-21-second soundbite captured Brahmbhatt’s central charge that the CJP’s core committee was taking directions from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and fighting the BJP “at Kejriwal’s behest” to help parties opposed to it.

ANI aired his claims repeatedly, each time framing them as proof of a split inside CJP – a notable development given that the same outlet did not broadcast a single clip on X of students being beaten, or their soundbites, during CJP’s march to Parliament on July 20.

What CJP says about Brahmbhatt

Speaking to Newslaundry, Saurav Das of the CJP said the way one particular individual was being highlighted to suggest a rift within CJP was part of the same campaign sections of the media had pursued to discredit the organisation during its Delhi protest.

Responding to the claim that Brahmbhatt was a founding member of CJP, Das said this was “completely incorrect”. He stated that Brahmbhatt had never been a founding member or part of the core committee and had never appeared on stage at a CJP event.

Das claimed that he and other members did meet Brahmbhatt when he visited Abhijeet Dipke’s residence in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar in August. “Ashutosh (Ranka) and I listened to what he had to say, but he ended up creating a scene there as well,” he said.

Primetime amplification

Republic TV gave the story a full primetime slot on September 3. Its Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami introduced Brahmbhatt as a “key founding member” of the CJP, an “insider” now turning on the organisation over its alleged AAP links.

Republic TV repeatedly cut to images of CJP’s founders alongside AAP leaders. On air, the channel put up an infographic highlighting Brahmbhatt’s claim that “CJP has become [Arvind] Kejriwal’s B team”. When Arnab asked Brahmbhatt why he had formed a separate party, Brahmbhatt replied: “We made this movement successful with our blood and sweat, but he [Kejriwal] struck a deal and turned it into ‘Team Kejriwal’...”

Times Now and its sister channel, Times Now Navbharat, ran the same playbook. On September 4, anchor Navika Kumar framed CJP(D) as a “rebel group,” leaning on Brahmbhatt’s claim that CJP’s leadership was coordinating with AAP without consulting its broader team. Meanwhile, Navika Kumar described Brahmbhatt as a CJP volunteer.

Brahmbhatt went further in this appearance. He alleged that shortly after the protest ended, Dipke held a closed-door meeting at his home with eight people said to be linked to AAP, along with a female friend and a cousin. He claimed the meeting was billed publicly as a spokespersons-only gathering but actually included AAP-aligned volunteers close to the leadership, convened, in his telling, to hastily install a national core team and “[to] do so in line with Kejriwal’s agenda.”

Times Now Navbharat ran with a “CJP vs CJP(D)” framing, presenting CJP as an organisation under siege from Brahmbhatt’s allegations.

Not to be left behind, Aaj Tak’s September 4 headline announced the “first rebellion within CJP,” calling Brahmbhatt a “former CJP volunteer” who accused Dipke of sidelining veteran activists and drifting toward AAP, though the report did note that his claim about eight AAP-linked individuals inside CJP remained unverified. Other mainstream print publications like Dainik Bhaskar carried similar accounts. 

The man behind the headlines

While mainstream media devoted plenty of attention to Brahmbhatt’s allegations, little heed was paid to his antecedents.

Drive five kilometres from Ahmedabad’s airport and there’s a good chance you’ll spot Brahmbhatt’s face on an auto-rickshaw; his image has been plastered across the city on hundreds of them. Some of that messaging carries an unmistakably communal edge, and his broader activity points to proximity with the BJP.

After the Pahalgam terror attack in August 2025, posters bearing Brahmbhatt’s name appeared on auto-rickshaws in Ahmedabad with a message in Gujarati that roughly translates to: “They killed after asking for names. We will buy after asking for names. Every home will observe Sanatan.” Calls for economic boycott of Muslims are a long-standing practice of outfits within the Sangh Parivar. 

On his call for an economic boycott of the Muslim community, he clarified to Newslaundry that he was not referring to the Muslim community as a whole, but “hardliners who live in India while speaking in favour of interests outside the country”.

Brahmbhatt also designed a “Sanatan Dharm” logo last year and has been pushing businesses – from tea stalls to large industries in Ahmedabad – to display it as a marker for “true Sanatanis.” His circulated message invites shopkeepers to give a missed call to a listed number so his team can get in touch, and asks recipients to forward it to “every Sanatani.”

When asked about the campaign, he said the idea was that once shops displayed the symbol, ‘Sanatan-minded’ customers would be encouraged to patronise businesses run by people who, in his view, contribute to charitable and religious causes. Asked how his campaigns are funded, Brahmbhatt said he is a businessman and that his friends also help finance these activities.

After the Centre abrogated Article 370 in 2019, Brahmbhatt printed a poster urging people to make a 30-second reel dedicated to Prime Minister Modi, stating their name, describing what Modi had done “in the national interest,” and closing with the line “I love Modi Ji.” He said, “When the central government abrogated Article 370, I ran a campaign creating reels in support of Modi ji; that was a matter of national interest.”

He has separately put up posters featuring an image of Dhirendra Shastri, popularly known as ‘Baba Bageshwar’, whom he met in May 2023, calling for India to become a “Hindu Rashtra.”

Brahmbhatt insists he has never formally joined the BJP, even though his campaigns have often tracked closely with its politics. He also maintains that he has never been associated with the RSS or any of its affiliated organisations. His social media, however, shows him seated beside C.R. Patil, senior BJP leader and Union minister, aboard a flight.

His history of activism is eclectic, spanning anti-corruption movements, farmer protests, and even a run for elected office.

In 2018, he launched an anti-corruption campaign in Gujarat, forming a group to raise issues of corruption. Brahmbhatt claimed that just a day after the launch of the movement, the Gujarat Police registered seven FIRs against him, alleging that he and his supporters were defacing government walls. He claimed that they challenged these FIRs in the High Court and got them quashed. He also took part in the 2011 anti-corruption movement, joined the 2020 farmers’ protest in Delhi, and contested the 2022 Gujarat Assembly election from Palanpur as an independent, losing his security deposit.

According to an affidavit Brahmbhatt submitted to the Election Commission ahead of the 2022 polls, four criminal cases were pending against him at the time, under IPC sections including those related to voluntarily causing hurt, criminal intimidation, and promoting enmity between groups. Brahmbhatt says the cases were “politically motivated” and that some have since been quashed.

In the Gujarati media, Brahmbhatt has been described as an “attention seeker” who craves publicity and wants to remain in the news. Newslaundry spoke to several reporters working with different newspapers in Ahmedabad. One reporter said that until recently, he had positioned himself as a strong supporter of Modi, but has now joined the CJP and is involved in breaking it apart.

However, explaining his politics, Brahmbhatt said, “I am neither opposed to nor supportive of anyone. I speak about issues.” Pressed further on his perceived inclination towards the BJP and Hindutva, he pointed to a Facebook post in which he had written a poem praising Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Brahmbhatt wrote this poem in the aftermath of Gandhi’s recent visit to a police station seeking the registration of an FIR against those responsible for injuring Sahil Lochab with a pellet gun.

Our new project visits the landscape described in Vande Mataram as it stands today, to ask what has become of the country the national song sings about. Support it here.