Cockroach Janata Party launches campaign seeking Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation

Back with the tagline Cockroaches Never Die after its original X handle was withheld in India the Cockroach Janata Party CJP a satirical socialmedia account launched a campaign on Friday demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra PradhanThe campaign spearheaded through CJPs new X handle Cockroach Is Back and its Instagram platform centres on alleged systemic failures in the education sector particularly concerns surrounding the NEETUG 2026 paperleak controversyCJP founder Abhijeet Dipke urged followers to support an online petition demanding Pradhans resignationHow are you cockroaches Everyone is saying you are doing great on the internet but I think now it is time to do some real work Today we are starting a petition demanding the resignation of the education minister Dipke said in a video messageCalling for accountability he said failures in the education system have adversely affected studentsIt is time now to make the system accountable It was the fault of the system that over 22 lakh students future was impacted it was the fault of the system that NEET students committed suicide Whatever happens Dharmendra Pradhan will have to resign he saidThe National EligibilitycumEntrance Test Undergraduate for admissions in medical courses held on May 3 was cancelled by the National Testing Agency NTA recently amid allegations of paper leak The matter is being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation CBI and a retest is scheduled to be held on June 21Dipke also claimed to have received threats amid the campaign against Pradhan posting on social media Receiving death threats nowThe resignation campaign comes a day after the original CJP handle was withheld in India by X prompting Dipke to launch a new handle Cockroach is Back with the tagline Cockroaches Never DieThis was expected since there were attempts to hack the account But this is a selfgoal by the government Dipke had told PTI adding that his team would pursue legal remediesAccording to Dipke the original CJP handle had more than two lakh followers before X withheld it Till Friday afternoon around 24 hours since its launch the Cockroach is Back X handle had more than 165 lakh followersOn Instagram the CJP crossed 205 million 205 crore followers on Friday afternoon leaving the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party BJP which has around 91 million 91 lakh followers on the Metaowned platform as well as main opposition party Congress which has around 134 million 134 crore followers far behindOn X the BJP still rules the roost with 23 million 23 crore followers while the Congresss official handle has 115 million 115 crore followersThe satirical platform emerged last week following a controversy around remarks attributed to Chief Justice of India CJI Surya Kant regarding cockroaches and parasites during a court hearing on the senior designation of lawyers The CJI later clarified that his observations directed at individuals entering the legal profession through fake and bogus degrees were misquotedWhat began as an online satire project has since evolved into a wider conversation on digital dissent and youth frustration with the platform using memes and sharp political commentary to address issues such as unemployment exampaper leaks and educationThe rapid rise has drawn attention not only from meme creators and young users but also from public figures who view it as a form of digital dissentPoliticians including Trinamool Congress TMC leaders Mahua Moitra and Kirti Azad and Samajwadi Party SP chief Akhilesh Yadav have engaged with or expressed interest in the movement alongside activists such as Prashant Bhushan and Anjali BharadwajThe withholding of the CJPs X handle has also drawn criticism with Moitra along with Shiv Sena UBT leaders Priyanka Chaturvedi and Sanjay Raut CPIML Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya and Swaraj India Partys Yogendra Yadav questioning why the account was taken downCongress MP Shashi Tharoor on Friday said suppressing the handle is foolish in a democracyDemocracys great virtue is the outlets it provides for public sentiment frustration and grievances Letting these be aired on a satirical site is in the national interest Tharoor said in a post on XThe former Union minister said several users dismissed it as a Pakistanmanufactured conspiracy as he also pointed out at Dipkes counter claim that 94 per cent of his followers are based in IndiaWhatever be the founders motivations there is no denying that they have tapped into an important strain of national sentiment among our youth As custodians of our democracy both government and opposition need to sit up listen and tackle the underlying discontent Ignoring it denying it and worst of all suppressing it would be disastrous he addedTharoor said such movements serve like the valves on a pressurecooker letting off steamI prefer satire to chaos anarchy or revolution I also feel it is our job to identify and deliver solutions to the problems of Young India Lets lift the ban and tune in he saidWhile Dipke was earlier associated with the Aam Aadmi Party AAP the CJP has projected itself as a broader satirical movement describing itself on its website as a political party for the people the system forgot to count and the voice of the lazy and unemployedThe blocking of the CJPs X handle has also drawn criticism from digitalrights group Internet Freedom Foundation IFF which has described the action as a blatant misuse of State power and an attempt to curb free speechIn a statement on Friday the IFF pointed out that the account has been withheld in India under section 69A of the Information Technology Act and argued that political commentary and criticism of public institutions are protected forms of expression under Article 191a of the ConstitutionThe group also raised concerns over what it described as the opaque nature of blocking orders under the confidential framework of section 69AState censorship like the blocking of CJPs X account propagates opacity and provides affected users with no options for redressal it said while calling on the Union government to ensure timely notice and avenues for remedy for affected usersThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever