The founder of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a satirical online political movement mocking India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has accused the Indian government of taking down the group’s official website and restricting its social media presence.
Abhijeet Dipke, a Boston University student and political communications strategist, said on X on Saturday that the movement’s “iconic” website had been removed.
Dipke also said both his personal Instagram account and the CJP’s Instagram account had been hacked.
The movement’s official X account later became inaccessible within India while remaining visible elsewhere.
The CJP emerged after comments by Supreme Court Justice Surya Kant, who compared some unemployed young people and critics of institutions to “cockroaches” and “parasites.”
The remarks triggered widespread backlash online and became the basis for a rapidly expanding satirical campaign.
Kant later clarified that his comments were directed at people holding fraudulent degrees and described India’s youth as “the pillars of a developed India.”
Dipke said the movement reflected growing frustration among younger Indians over unemployment, corruption and political conditions.
“Nothing of this was intentional,” Dipke said.
“It is the younger people who were actually very frustrated. They don’t have any outlet. They were really angry at the government.”
The movement has amassed more than 19 million Instagram followers within days, surpassing the BJP’s social media following on the platform.
Dipke also claimed that one million people had signed up to join the movement.
The CJP has campaigned for Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to resign following allegations that exam papers for a government-run medical entrance test were leaked.
The controversy led to protests across India in recent weeks.
Dipke said around 600,000 people had signed the movement’s petition demanding Pradhan’s resignation.
Opposition figures raised concerns after the CJP’s X account became inaccessible in India.
Congress party member Shashi Tharoor said democracies require “outlets for dissent, humor, satire, and even frustration.”
Dipke said claims that most followers came from outside India were false and posted data he said showed nearly all supporters were based in India.