India's Cockroach Janta Party vows to fight on after accounts removed

THE founder of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a satirical online movement in India, has claimed that all of its social media accounts and website have been shut down or made inaccessible.

Abhijeet Dipke said on Saturday (23) that the group had lost access to its Instagram accounts, that its X handle had been withheld in India, that a backup account had been temporarily removed, and that its website, cockroachjantaparty.org, had also been taken down.

"Please note that we currently do not have access to any of our platforms. Any post made after this should not be considered an official statement from the Cockroach Janta Party," Dipke said in a post on X.

The CJP's original X account was withheld in India two days before the statement, after which Dipke created a backup account. On Friday he also said he had received death threats, sharing screenshots of the alleged messages online.

It demands resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan

The group had been running a campaign calling for the resignation of Indian education minister Dharmendra Pradhan over what it described as failures in the education system and a leak in the NEET-UG 2026 entrance examination.

Dipke linked the removal of the accounts to that campaign. "Action should have been taken against the education minister for the paper leak," he said. "But in New India, action is being taken against the Cockroach Janta Party for demanding accountability."

Posting from a new backup account called "Cockroach is Back," the group said the movement had gathered one million sign-ups on its website in under a week before the site was taken down. It said 600,000 people had also signed a petition calling for the minister's resignation.

The group said it planned to rebuild its online presence and that the campaign would continue. "You can hack and withhold the accounts, but you cannot hack this movement," it said.

The Cockroach Janta Party emerged online last week, gaining a following through political commentary and satire around youth unemployment, examination leaks and education policy.

(with inputs from PTI)