Cockroach Janata Party’s X handle withheld, founder starts new account

The Cockroach Janata Party’s (CJP) X account has been withheld in India in response to a legal demand, according to founder Abhijeet Dipke.

“Cockroach Janta Party’s account was started on 16th May. Within 4 days the account got banned because it got more than 200K following,” the founder posted on X. Mr. Dipke also claimed that attempts were made to hack the CJP’s Instagram handle.

Two hours after the announcement, Mr. Dipke announced that he had started a new account named ‘Cockroach Is Back’ on X. He informed the agencies that the team would pursue the matter legally.”

At 3.40 p.m., a little over an hour after it started, the ‘Cockroach Is Back’ X handle had 16,800 followers.

The CJP is a satirical political movement founded on 16 May by Mr. Dipke, former political strategist for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The platform was started in response to CJI Surya Kant’s comment describing young, unemployed Indians as “cockroaches”. Later, the CJI issued a clarification saying that the media “misquoted” him.

The movement became an internet sensation, garnering over 14.5 million followers on Instagram, surpassing BJP’s 8.8 million follower count.

Several other accounts using the ‘cockroach’ nomenclature remain active on X. These include ‘The Cockroach Youth’, ‘Cockroach News’, ‘IAmCockroach’, ‘Cockroach Party of India’ and ‘Cockroach Janata Party (Gen Z)’.

Politicians, including TMC leaders Mahua Moitra and Kirti Azad, engaged with or expressed interest in the movement, alongside activists such as Prashant Bhushan and Anjali Bharadwaj.

What began as an online satire project has soon evolved into a wider conversation about contemporary protest and the role of humour and meme culture in it.

(With PTI inputs)