The Cockroach Janta Party’s website was taken down on Saturday, founder Abhijeet Dipke claimed, as the online movement that began as a satire campaign faced fresh disruption.
In the report published by Hindustan Times, Dipke said the party’s official X handle had been withheld, its backup Instagram account taken down, and both his personal Instagram account and the party’s Instagram account had been hacked.
Cockroach Janta Party’s account was started on 16th May.
— Abhijeet Dipke (@abhijeet_dipke) May 21, 2026
Within 4 days the account got banned because it got more than 200K following. pic.twitter.com/q93MTXIbrm
Much ado over cockroaches and censorship
Dipke used X to accuse the government of acting in a “dictatorial” manner. He wrote that the government had taken down the party’s “iconic website” and asked, “Why is the government so scared of cockroaches?”
He also said the crackdown was “opening the eyes of India’s youth” and ended the post with the line, “Cockroaches never die.” He claimed about 10 lakh people had signed up as members and 6 lakh members had signed a petition seeking the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the examination row.
लो भाई Cockroach Janta Party का Instagram Account किसी के द्वारा Hack कर लिया गया है। पहले X का अकाउंट गया था अब इंस्टा का भी।
— Ashwini Yadav (@iamAshwiniyadav) May 22, 2026
अब कुल मिलाकर सोशल मीडिया वाली क्रांति की नाव को हल्के हल्के हिचकोले मिलना शुरू हो गए हैं। अभी तो लड़ाई शुरू भी नहीं किये थे उससे पहले ही ये सब। pic.twitter.com/JYWKTiEj3r
Meme-fuelled rebellion
The Cockroach Janta Party emerged after controversy over remarks linked to Chief Justice of India Surya Kant during a hearing on senior designation for lawyers.
The remarks were later clarified, with the CJI saying he had been misquoted and the comments were aimed at people entering the legal profession with “fake and bogus degrees.”
The movement had grown into a broader discussion of digital dissent and youth frustration, with the platform used to raise issues including unemployment, examination paper leaks and education. It is a millennial- and Gen Z-fuelled space for sarcasm and meme culture.
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As the following grows, so does the furore
By Saturday afternoon, the party had crossed 22 million followers on Instagram, placing it ahead of the BJP and Congress. The digital rights group Internet Freedom Foundation had criticised the blocking of CJP’s X account as a “blatant misuse of state power” and an attempt to curb free speech. Dipke had earlier claimed to have received death threats on WhatsApp after launching the satirical outfit.
