Most political merchandise in India is honestly bad. It is poly-cotton, the print cracks after three washes, the slogan is in a font from 2007, and the colour palette comes straight out of a vinyl banner. The CJP shop went the other way on purpose. The same nine SKUs that fund the chapter meet-ups and voter-awareness drives are also a small thesis statement on how a youth movement looks when it actually thinks about how it looks. This guide walks through all nine.
The five tees
1. Main Bhi Cockroach — the original
The Main Bhi Cockroach original tee is the flagship. Cream slab-serif type on charcoal black, 240 GSM combed cotton, drop-shoulder oversized, screen-printed for 50-plus wash durability. This is the gateway purchase, and the one most members buy first. The full story of the tee is in our behind-the-shirt explainer.
Political read: wearing the insult that started everything. The slogan is the policy.
2. Secular. Socialist. Democratic. Lazy.
The Secular Socialist Democratic Lazy tee is the ideology cut. Optic-white heavyweight 220 GSM cotton, saffron / brown / green print riffing on the constitutional preamble. The full unpacking lives in our tagline explainer.
Political read: putting "lazy" next to "secular" and "democratic" is the entire joke and the entire argument.
3. Voice of the Lazy & Unemployed
The Voice of the Lazy & Unemployed tee uses a saffron splash type on charcoal cotton, garment-dyed for a vintage hand-feel. Not a fresh-out-of-the-bag tee — designed to look worn.
Political read: the CJI's "no employment, no profession" line gets turned into a self-description. See why lazy and unemployed need a party.
4. We Get Organized
The We Don't Get Employment, We Get Organized tee is the most direct reply to the cockroach jibe. Skyline graphic, glow-finish ink on black — engineered for evenings outside, photographs and rallies after sundown.
Political read: organising is the productive response to the insult.
5. 55% Women's Reservation
The 55% Women's Reservation tee turns manifesto item three into wearable type. Cream base with a tricolour ribbon detail.
Political read: the only piece of merch in India that puts a specific quota number on a t-shirt. Pair it with the explainer on the 55% demand.
The two hoodies
6. Main Bhi Cockroach hoodie
The Main Bhi Cockroach hoodie is the wordmark cut — front-only print, 330 GSM brushed-back fleece, kangaroo pocket, drop-shoulder oversized. The quieter of the two CJP hoodies.
Political read: the layer for cadre who prefer their politics one conversation at a time, not one back-print at a time.
7. We Don't Squash Ideas hoodie
The We Don't Squash Ideas hoodie is the loud cut — cream / ecru fleece, subtle chest type, large mascot art on the back. Reads as a placard across a quad. Full story in our hoodie deep-dive.
Political read: a sentence the wearer never has to say out loud.
The mug and the badges
8. CJP HQ Chai Mug
The CJP HQ Chai Mug — 330ml glossy black ceramic, wraparound mascot, microwave and dishwasher safe — is the desk-statement piece. Probably the only CJP merch that ends up on a relative's kitchen counter without an argument.
Political read: the chai mug is the smallest political object in the average Indian household. Putting "Main Bhi Cockroach" on it is a domestic act of recruitment.
9. CJP Cadre Badge Bundle
The Cadre Badge Bundle — five 38mm metal pin-back badges with the CJP logo, the Main Bhi Cockroach slogan, the Voice of the Lazy & Unemployed line, the Secular Socialist Democratic Lazy mark, and the mascot — is the entry-level piece. Lowest commitment, highest density of slogans per square centimetre.
Political read: badges show up on backpacks, denim jackets and college lanyards, where a full t-shirt would be too much. They are the way the movement enters spaces that do not allow slogans on shirts.
"The merch is not a fundraiser pretending to be a movement. It is a movement that decided not to embarrass itself with bad fabric." — CJP merch team, May 2026
How to read the line
The nine pieces are not a random catalogue. They are arranged across three axes:
- Volume — from quiet (mug, wordmark hoodie, single-pin badge) to loud (back-printed hoodie, 55% women's reservation tee).
- Season — tees for the year-round Indian default, hoodies for the rally and AC-library winter, the mug for the chai-rituals that survive both.
- Politics — from the slogan that started everything (the original tee) to the demands the slogan now carries (women's reservation, civic literacy, accountability).
Where the money goes
CJP's no-sponsors pledge means merch is the largest single funding source. Margins fund chapter meet-ups, voter-awareness drives, and the basic operational cost of an unregistered movement that is trying to become a registered one. The shop page is, in a strict sense, the closest thing CJP has to a treasurer.
Starting points
If you are buying your first piece, the easiest sequence is: original tee → badge bundle → one hoodie, depending on volume preference. Once you have read the manifesto and the founder's note, the rest of the line stops being a catalogue and starts being a vocabulary.
Browse the whole line. Open the CJP shop →