Cockroach Janta Party Founder Abhijeet Dipke Narrowly Ahead Of AAP Chief Arvind Kejriwal On List Of Preferred PM: Survey

New Delhi: Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke is marginally ahead of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief and his former boss Arvind Kejriwal in a recent survey regarding the most preferred choice for Prime Minister.

According to the India Today-CVoter Mood of the Nation (MOTN) survey, Dipke emerged as the preferred choice for Prime Minister among 1.3% of respondents, narrowly ahead of Kejriwal, who secured 1.2%.

The difference is just 0.1 percentage. However, the larger political point is difficult to ignore. Dipke, who turned a satirical page into a political movement, is now marginally ahead of a former Chief Minister and the national convenor of a political party that has significantly greater organisational resources and manpower.

Interestingly, both Dipke and Kejriwal built their political identities around protest and challenging the established political order. Dipke has positioned education reform at the centre of his agenda, an issue that has also been central to Kejriwal and the AAP's political pitch and claims of governance.
The numbers, therefore, may say little about an immediate political contest, but they do offer an interesting snapshot of how quickly political relevance can shift in the age of social media-driven movements. For Dipke, the significance lies less in overtaking Kejriwal by 0.1 percentage point and more in the fact that a relatively new political figure has entered the national conversation alongside an established leader.

Dipke formerly worked with the AAP's communications team under Kejriwal's leadership from 2020 to 2023.

Modi remains most preferred

Meanwhile, according to the survey, Prime Minister Narendra Modi remains the most preferred candidate, with 48.7% of respondents choosing him as the best suited to be the next PM. Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi follows at 27.1%. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay is third with 9.2%.

Other leaders in survey

Former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is fourth at 2%, followed by Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav at 1.7%. Dipke, at 1.3%, is next, who is narrowly ahead of Kejriwal at 1.2%.