Hours after the X account of the fast-growing political outfit Cockroach Janta Party, which started as a satirical campaign, was withheld in India shortly after overtaking the BJP on Instagram, its founder Abhijeet Dipke posted a cryptic message on the microblogging platform, saying, “Own goal.” The latest post added intrigue to the meme-led campaign, which has seen an explosive online debut in recent days.

What makes it even more interesting is that Dipke followed up the cryptic post with another account, “Cockroach is Back,” with the line, “Cockroaches don’t die.” With just two tweets, the new account has already crossed 15,000 followers in no time.

Soon after the US-based Dipke confirmed that his account had been blocked in India, he went on a tweeting spree. First, he wrote, “As expected, Cockroach Janta Party’s account has been withheld in India.” He then posted another tweet alleging attempts to hack his Instagram account.

Earlier, the party crossed 10 million followers on Instagram, moving past the BJP’s official account, which has about 8.7 million followers on the platform. The Congress remains ahead with more than 13 million followers, while the Aam Aadmi Party trails far behind.

Interestingly, on the party’s new account, Dipke also posted a sarcastic dig at the BJP, sharing a picture of a cockroach nibbling on the party’s lotus symbol.

The development comes as the Cockroach Janta Party continues to expand across social media. What began just a few days ago as an online satire campaign has now grown into a wider digital movement, driven by frustration among young people over unemployment, paper leaks, political discourse and institutional accountability.

The Cockroach Janta Party describes itself as “a political front of the youth, by the youth, for the youth” and uses the slogan, “Secular, Socialist, Democratic, Lazy”. The campaign has combined humour, memes and political messaging to draw heavy engagement within days of its launch.

Its name emerged as a satirical reply to remarks attributed to Chief Justice of India Surya Kant during a court hearing last week. In those remarks, some unemployed young people and online activists were allegedly compared to “cockroaches” and “parasites”, leading to anger online.

The 30-year-old Dipke is a Boston University graduate and a former social media campaign worker with the Aam Aadmi Party. In an earlier interview, he said the remarks became the emotional trigger for the campaign. “I think the remarks were more triggering because they came from the Chief Justice of India, who is the custodian of the Constitution, which grants us freedom of expression,” he said.

The Chief Justice later issued a clarification, saying his remarks had been misquoted and were aimed only at people using fake degrees to enter professions. But the clarification did not stop the backlash online, and the Cockroach Janta Party continued to gather support, claiming lakhs of registered backers and millions of followers across platforms within a few days.

The movement has also drawn responses from prominent figures, including activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan, social activist Anjali Bhardwaj, and Trinamool Congress MPs Mahua Moitra and Kirti Azad, both of whom jokingly said they were willing to “join” the outfit. The withholding of the party’s X account came as its online reach and visibility continued to grow.

Source: India Today