Platform visibility and protest recirculation in the Cockroach Janta Party movement

This paper examines how the Cockroach Janta Party connected digital communication and streetprotest in India between May and July 2026. I draw on nineteen public documentary records and aseparate retrospective account of my participation. I follow calls to attend demonstrations, arequest to share protest photographs and videos, Sonam Wangchuk's involvement, and disputesover platform access. In my early visits, I remember small gatherings, people who stayed onlybriefly, and volunteers who hoped the protest would grow but were unsure how far it would spread.These observations make it difficult to assume that online popularity leads to sustainedparticipation. I use a visibility-action-recirculation framework to examine how gatherings producematerial that returns to digital circulation. A limited comparison with Nepal's September 2025protests considers how people maintain communication when services are restricted. The evidencedocuments deliberate organising and reported interruptions. It does not establish howrecommendation systems, emotional appeals or recirculated material affected attendance.