Cockroach Janta Party website is no more; founder says ‘cockroaches never die’

The Cockroach Janta Party's website was taken down on Saturday, May 23. The founder of the satirical “party” which became an online political movement, Abhijeet Dipke, took to social media to attack the government over the take-down of the website, saying, “Cockroaches never die. 🪳”

“The government has taken down our iconic website-http://cockroachjantaparty.org. 10 Lakh cockroaches had signed up on our website has members. 6 Lakh cockroaches had signed a petition to demand the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan,” Dipke wrote on X.

In a scathing attack on the government, Dipke asked, “Why is the government so scared of cockroaches? But this dictatorial behaviour is opening the eyes of India's youth. Our only crime is we were demanding a better future for ourselves.”

“But you can't get rid of us that easily. We’re working on a new home right now. Cockroaches never die,” the founder of the website and the online political movement said.

‘Crackdown on Cockroach Janta Party'

Earlier, Abhijeet Dipke claimed the Instagram account of the ‘Cockroach Janta Party was hacked, and its X account was withheld. He added that his personal Instagram account was also hacked, and the “backup account [was] also taken down.”

“Please note that we currently do not have access to any of our platforms. Any post made after this should not be considered an official statement from the Cockroach Janta Party,” the founder said earlier in the day.

In another attack on the BJP-led Centre, Dipke said, “Action should have been taken against the Education Minister for the paper leak. For the student who lost his life due to the government’s failure.”

“But in New India, action is being taken against the Cockroach Janta Party for demanding accountability,” he added.

What is Cockroach Janta Party?

Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which was started as a “joke” following the controversial “parasite” remark by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, turned into an online political movement within a day.

CJP was started by 30-year-old Abhishek Dipke, who recently completed his Master’s in Public Relations from Boston University in Massachusetts, USA.

It pitched itself as “the voice of the lazy and unemployed”, and sparked an intense discussion among netizens. On its website, the “party” said its mission is to “build a party for the young people who keep getting called lazy, chronically online, and — most recently — cockroaches. That's it. That's the mission. The rest is satire.”

In just 24 hours, “more than 10K cockroaches" had joined its Twitter account and “more than 13K cockroaches" had joined on Instagram.

In less than a week, “We have achieved 1 million registered Cockroaches on our website…The movement keeps getting bigger despite all the crackdown!," the “party” posted on X on May 23.

The “party” also gained support from Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders Mahua Moitra and Kirti Azad. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor also extended his support to the movement.

In a post on social media, Tharoor said he was ‘incredibly intrigued’ by the movement, which he claimed amassed more than 15 million followers on Instagram within just five days.

“I understand the frustrations of the youth and see why they are resonating with it,” he posted on 21 May, arguing that restricting the group’s account on X would be “disastrous and deeply unwise.”