The X account of the satirical “Cockroach Janata Party” was withheld in India on Tuesday.
The online movement emerged after controversial remarks made during a Supreme Court hearing.
Founder Abhijeet Dipke said he expected the restriction and shared a screenshot of the notice online.
The X account of Cockroach Janata Party, a satirical political outfit, has been withheld in India just hours after it overtook the Bharatiya Janata Party’s follower count on Instagram.
Abhijeet Dipke, the party’s founder, 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.”
At the time of writing, the CJP has 13.8 million followers on Instagram, reflecting the popularity of the satirical political outfit online.
Why was the Account Withheld
According to X, an account is withheld if the social media platform receives a valid request from an authorized entity and when “it may be necessary to withhold access to certain content in a particular country from time to time.”
The withholdings are only applicable to the specific jurisdiction that the request had been made in. Thus, the account is expected to only be taken down in India.
What is the CJP?
The CJP came in to existence as a satirical Instagram post in response to the Chief Justice of India, Justice Surya Kant, during a hearing called the unemployed youth of the country as ‘’cockroaches’’ and compared them with parasites attacking the system.
Though the CJI issued a clarification through a statement, the damage had been done. The CJP had captured the imagination of the country’s youth. Within days the party garnered a social media following that usually requires years of consistent work.
What started as a mere satirical post started burgeoning into an online movement that reflected the pent-up frustration of the country’s youth, a demographic to which traditional parties rarely cater.
Who is Abhijeet Dipke?
Abhijeet Dipke is the founding president of the CJP and the brainchild of the unexpected social media movement. He is a 30-year-old political communication strategist currently residing in Boston, USA. He has previously worked with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) where he volunteered for the party’s social media and election campaign operations.
Dipke had previously said that he did not expect his post to get so much traction and that he is contemplating moving back to Delhi.
