After making a splash, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has now earned the attention of security agencies in India. This comes after the X handle of the movement was blocked following a direction from the Centre in the wake of inputs from the Intelligence Bureau (IB) that raised “national security concerns”.
But what has got security agencies apprehensive about CJP?
Let’s examine.
The rise of the Cockroach Janta Party
The origins of the Cockroach Janta Party can be traced to May 16, after the Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant reportedly compared young unemployed Indians to cockroaches. Thirty-year-old
Abhishek Dipke, who recently completed his Master’s in Public Relations from Boston University in Massachusetts, launched a platform — Cockroach Janta Party — for all the ‘cockroaches’ out there.
The CJP stated that it was the “voice of the lazy and the unemployed”. On its website, it also listed out a five-point manifesto, which stated that any MLA or MP who defects from one party to another shall be barred from contesting elections — and from holding any public office — for a period of 20 years. Moreover, Women shall receive 50 per cent reservation, not 33 per cent, without increasing the strength of Parliament. Additionally, 50 per cent of all Cabinet positions shall be reserved for women.
Soon, CJP began posting memes, mock campaign slogans, and satirical commentary about corruption, joblessness, and political dysfunction.
The discourse also spilled offline, with young volunteers turning up dressed as cockroaches at clean-up drives and protests, in a theatrical embrace of the label.
Within days, the satirical movement became a buzzword with everyone discussing it. On Thursday, the CJP’s Instagram account crossed 10 million followers.
Cockroach’s X account blocked
However, amid the frenzy around Cockroach Janta Party, its founder Abhishek Dipke noted that the movement’s
X account had been blocked.
Dipke shared a photo of the pop-up showing when opening the X account and wrote in the caption, “As expected, Cockroach Janta Party’s account has been withheld in India.”
The account, with username CJP_2029, is showing ‘Account Withheld’ in bold letters, followed by “@CJP_2029 has been withheld in IN in response to a legal demand.”
However, within hours of being blocked, a new X account emerged, sharing a post, “You thought you can get rid of us? Lol.”
Reason behind the X account being withheld
Following the Cockroach Janta Party’s account being blocked, many wondered why such a move had taken place.
According to an Indian Express report, a senior government official stated that the direction came from the Centre in the wake of inputs from the Intelligence Bureau (IB) that raised “national security concerns”.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) asked X to withhold the account under Section 69 (A) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, the official said, adding that the input to do so came from the IB.
“MeitY received an input from the IB to block the X account of Cockroach Janta Party, citing that it posed a threat to the sovereignty of India. The IB believed that the account was posting inflammatory content through its account, which could have jeopardised the country’s national security,” the official said. “In particular, the concern stemmed from the fact that the account’s content was gaining traction among young people.”
But that’s not all. Security agencies are concerned about the movement’s X page. A News18 report notes that the group was originally created in February 2021 under the Gujarati name Aam Aadmi Party Gujarat. Since then, the page has been renamed multiple times. These repeated shifts are a concern for security agencies.
Another worry for the authorities is the origin of many of the followers of the account on the Elon Musk-owned platform. Many believe it could be bot activity from abroad. Several netizens also pointed out that the majority of the Cockroach Janta Party were based in Pakistan. Screenshots and videos shared on Instagram and X appeared to show follower analytics listing countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey among the top audience locations.
The majority of Cockroach Janata Party followers are bots and accounts from Pakistan and Bangladesh. They are growing fast on Instagram but not on X because X cracks down on bots whereas Instagram doesn’t. Years ago I helped start the social media accounts of two organisations as… pic.twitter.com/sxstQg48Ii
— Rakesh Krishnan Simha (@ByRakeshSimha) May 22, 2026
Some users alleged that Indian followers made up only a small portion of the total audience.
Authorities also worry that online supporters of the Cockroach Janta Party may result in physical mobilisation. News18 reports that the concern is that what currently exists as meme-driven anger could evolve into offline protests, student agitations, or loosely coordinated campaigns demanding accountability from institutions and governments.
Cockroach Janta Party responds
To claims of having foreign followers and bots, Dipke issued a clarification. He shared a screenshot on X detailing the origins of the followers of the Cockroach Janta Party.
I know you are desperately trying to hack the account but since you have failed to do so. Let me share the real data.
Why would you call 94% of Indian youth as Pakistanis? https://t.co/547NtEP934 pic.twitter.com/9DRTx6l96e
— Abhijeet Dipke (@abhijeet_dipke) May 21, 2026
He also wrote on X, “I know you are desperately trying to hack the account, but since you have failed to do so, let me share the real data. Why would you call 94 per cent of Indian youth as Pakistanis?,” he said while sharing the data.
With inputs from agencies
First Published:
May 22, 2026, 15:20 IST
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