The X account of satirical political collective Cockroach Janata Party has been blocked in India shortly after the outfit witnessed a meteoric rise across social media platforms and surpassed the follower count of the Bharatiya Janata Party on Instagram.
The restriction became visible after users attempting to access the handle @CJP_2029 were greeted with a notice stating that the account had been withheld in India following a legal demand.
Founder reacts after X restriction
Abhijeet Dipke, the founder of the group, shared a screenshot of the message on social media and remarked that the move had been expected.
The notice displayed by X stated that the account had been restricted in India in response to what the platform described as a legal request.
The development comes at a time when the satirical outfit was rapidly gaining online traction for its political commentary and parody driven content.
Social media rise fuels attention
The Cockroach Janata Party has seen explosive growth online within days of its launch.
On Instagram, the outfit amassed more than 13 million followers, overtaking the BJP’s official account, which currently has around 8.8 million followers.
In one of its recent posts, the group mocked the BJP by claiming it took only four days to cross the ruling party’s follower count, accompanied by a sarcastic caption referring to claims of being the “world’s largest party.”
Why X withheld the account
According to X’s content withholding policy, accounts or posts can be restricted in specific countries if the platform receives what it considers a valid legal request from an authorised authority or if local laws are allegedly violated.
The company says such restrictions are generally limited to the jurisdiction from which the request originates.
How the satirical outfit emerged
The Cockroach Janata Party was formed after online outrage surrounding remarks reportedly made by Surya Kant, who allegedly compared some unemployed youth to “cockroaches” and “parasites.”
The group adopted those comments as the basis for its political satire and quickly built an identity around internet humour and anti establishment commentary.
Its tongue in cheek membership criteria reportedly include being unemployed, chronically online, lazy and capable of “ranting professionally.”
Who is Abhijeet Dipke?
Abhijeet Dipke, who calls himself the founding president of the outfit, is a 30 year old political communication strategist.
He previously worked with the Aam Aadmi Party and was associated with the party’s social media and election campaign operations.
Shortly after the X account was restricted, Dipke posted another screenshot allegedly showing an email from Instagram asking whether he was facing difficulties accessing the account.
He claimed attempts were being made to compromise or hack the group’s Instagram profile.
