New Delhi: The X account of Cockroach Janta Party, the satirical digital outfit that came up last week and took social media by storm, was withheld in India on Thursday.
Soon after, came another handle ā āCockroach is Backā with the tagline āCockroaches Donāt Dieā.
āThis (action) was expected since there were attempts to hack the account yesterday. But this is a self-goal by the government,ā founder Abhijeet Dipke said.
āI have now started a new account named āCockroach Is Backā on X,ā Dipke added. He said the team would pursue the matter legally.
Around 6 pm on Thursday, a few hours after it started, the āCockroach Is Backā X handle had over 39,000 followers. It shared once again the demand for the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Cockroach Janta Party, which according to Dipke had 2,01,000 followers on X, was born following a controversy over Chief Justice of India Surya Kant using āparasitesā and ācockroachesā while pulling up a lawyer.
The CJI later clarified that he was misquoted and his remarks were directed specifically at individuals entering the legal profession through āfake and bogus degreesā.
The account, which came into being a day after the CJIās remarks on May 15, quickly went viral, attracting support from politicians, activists, artists and a large number of young and not so young social media users. Though the X account is inaccessible in India, it can be accessed through VPN.
The platformās Instagram page remains active with around over 15.6 million followers ā and counting ā by Thursday evening.
A post from the X account āCockroach is Backā on Thursday drew comparisons with the official Bharatiya Janata Party account, which has approximately 8.8 million followers on the Meta-owned platform.
āThe reason why they blocked us,ā read the post, which also had an image of a cockroach munching on a lotus flower, the election symbol of the BJP. āYou thought you can get rid of us? Lol,ā read another post.
The Instagram account of Cockroach Janta Party, which quickly became CJP for many, has also surpassed the following of opposition Congress that has 13.3 million followers.
Questioning the action against what he described as a satirical platform, Dipke said the account and the movement had been growing rapidly.
āThe X handle and movement has been growing, getting thousands of followers every day, perhaps that is what scared the government,ā Dipke alleged.
Dipke, who was earlier associated with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), on Thursday posted on X that attempts were also being made to hack the Instagram account.
Trademarks sought for āCockroach Janta Partyā
New Delhi: Three separate trademark applications have been filed seeking rights over the name Cockroach Janta Party, official records showed.
The filings, by lesser-known individuals, come amid growing attention around the satirical political outfit Cockroach Janta Party that attracted million of views and followers within days of launch for its online commentary and digital presence.
While the X account of the outfit was withheld in India, the applications filed with the Trade Marks Registry portal seek trademark registration under the category for providing political and social services.
Separate applications have been filed by individuals Azim Adambhai Jam and Akhand Swaroop ā about whom not much is known ā and by a proprietorship COCKROACH JANTA PARTY.
According to the Trade Marks Registry portal, the status of two applications is showing āFormalities Check Passā, which means applications have successfully cleared the initial technical scrutiny by the trademark office.
The third application status is āSent to Vienna Codificationā means it has been sent for classification under the Vienna Classification system. This usually happens when the trademark contains a logo/ symbol/image/shape/design or graphical element.
This application was filled for āCockroach Janta Party (Label Mark)ā, which means the applicant has applied to register not just the words āCockroach Janta Partyā, but the complete visual/logo version of the mark.
