India, July 25 -- "Thanks for calling us cockroaches." That was Abhijeet Dipke's message on Saturday to Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, delivered from the stage at Jantar Mantar, minutes after Dharmendra Pradhan resigned as Union education minister under pressure from the movement that owed its origin and name to a remarks by India's top judge.

"I would like to thank CJI Surya Kant," the Cockroach Janta Party founder told supporters, "If he hadn't called us cockroaches, I wouldn't have come to India. This movement would not have started."

The comment traces the movement's arc back to its origin point, a May 15 Supreme Court hearing on Senior Advocate designation, during which the CJI remarked that "there are youngsters like cockroach...