Senior Maharashtra Congress leaders have accused the BJP-led Centre of attempting to suppress public dissent by allegedly blocking social media accounts linked to the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a satirical online movement that recently gained traction across digital platforms.
Congress leaders Nana Patole and Balasaheb Thorat claimed the government acted following an Intelligence Bureau (IB) warning about possible unrest triggered by the campaign’s growing popularity.
The Cockroach Janta Party emerged online last week through political satire, memes and commentary centred on unemployment, examination paper leaks and broader concerns affecting students and young people.
Earlier this week, the group launched a digital campaign demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the alleged NEET-UG examination paper leak case.
The movement gained visibility after remarks attributed to Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant during a court hearing reportedly referenced “cockroaches” and “parasites”.
Nana Patole cites alleged IB report
Speaking to reporters, Patole alleged that the Intelligence Bureau had submitted a report to Prime Minister Narendra Modi warning that the CJP’s rapidly expanding social media campaign could lead to unrest across the country, according to the PTI.
According to Patole, the government subsequently moved to block the group’s online content and accounts.
“An IB report submitted to the Prime Minister stated that the issue could spark unrest and therefore needed to be blocked. Based on that information, action was taken,” he claimed, the news agency reported.
Patole further argued that frustration among young people, the unemployed and economically weaker sections had been intensifying and warned that public anger could escalate further.
Balasaheb Thorat criticises BJP response
Thorat also criticised the BJP, alleging that the ruling party was attempting to silence criticism instead of addressing the concerns raised by the public, the news agency reported.
He argued that shutting down social media accounts would not resolve growing dissatisfaction over unemployment, education-related grievances and broader economic pressures.
“The issue cannot be resolved simply by targeting online platforms or removing accounts,” Thorat said, while accusing the BJP of trying to curb dissent rather than engage with public concerns, as per the PTI.
CJP founder alleges digital crackdown
Meanwhile, Abhijeet Dipke claimed on Saturday that all official social media accounts and the website associated with the Cockroach Janta Party had either been disabled, taken down or compromised.
Dipke alleged that the organisation had effectively lost access to all its official digital platforms amid the controversy.
(with PTI inputs)
