NEW DELHI: India’s viral parody political group, the “Cockroach Janta Party” (CJP), has claimed its website and social media accounts were blocked in India days after the movement gained massive online attention and millions of followers.
The group, which describes itself as “the voice of the lazy and unemployed,” emerged as a satirical response to comments reportedly made by India’s chief justice comparing unemployed youth to cockroaches. The judge later clarified that he was referring to people holding “fake and bogus degrees,” not Indian youth in general.
The Cockroach Janta Party, which is not officially registered as a political party, quickly became a social media phenomenon. Its founder, Abhijeet Dipke, said authorities had “taken down our iconic website” and questioned why officials were “so scared of cockroaches.”
The group’s X account, which had more than 200,000 followers, is now inaccessible in India and displays a notice saying it was withheld “in response to a legal demand.”
Dipke, a political communications strategist and student at Boston University in the United States, also claimed that both his personal Instagram account and the group’s official Instagram page had been hacked.
Political exclusion
The parody movement mocks Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and has attracted widespread support among young Indians frustrated with unemployment and political exclusion.
Using AI-generated images and humour-filled campaigns, the group popularised the hashtag “#MainBhiCockroach” (“I too am a cockroach”). Its Instagram account amassed more than 22 million followers, surpassing the BJP’s official page.
Videos circulating online showed supporters dressed as cockroaches participating in protests and clean-up campaigns in several Indian cities.
Observers say the movement reflects growing frustration among India’s youth over unemployment, economic uncertainty and a perceived disconnect between younger voters and mainstream politics.
India has one of the world’s youngest populations, with nearly half of its 1.4 billion people under the age of 30.
