New Delhi: The trending Cockroach Janta Party social media posts have gained immense popularity over a short period. Now, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Friday expressed his intrigue over the sudden and massive popularity of this trend. Tharoor, in fact, called this viral trend an “opportunity” that the “Opposition must seize.”
“I’m incredibly intrigued by the rise of #CockroachJantaParty, which has already reached more than 15 million (now over 19 million) followers on Instagram in just five days,” Shashi Tharoor wrote on X.
“I am uncertain about the future of this movement but I hope the youngsters behind it find a way to bring this energy into mainstream politics or perhaps express it through their vote to be a voice of change and in doing so, become impossible to ignore. This is an opportunity that the Opposition must seize,” he adds.
The X account of the satirical “Cockroach Janta Party” (CJP) has been withheld in India following a government directive issued after inputs from the Intelligence Bureau (IB), according to reports citing senior officials.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology directed X to block the account under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, after the IB flagged the account over concerns that its content could pose a threat to national security and sovereignty, reported News 18.
Reacting to this, Tharoor questioned the takedown. He said that the blocking of the account was “disastrous and deeply unwise”.
“I understand the frustrations of the youth and see why they are resonating with it. This is precisely why the account being withheld on X is disastrous and deeply unwise – there should be an outlet for the youth to express their feelings and so, let CJP’s account function instead of shutting it down! Democracies need outlets for dissent, humour, satire and even frustration,” he wrote.
The satirical outfit was launched by Abhijeet Dipke, who created a Google form inviting users to “join” the party. Reports said the initiative quickly gained momentum, drawing thousands of registrations within hours and turning into a wider online protest movement blending humour, political satire and youth frustration.
