Shashi Tharoor slams X ban on ‘Cockroach Janata Party’

A day after the Cockroach Janata Party’s (CJP) account was withheld in India in response to a legal complaint, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Friday (May 22, 2026) dubbed the move as “foolish” in his post on X. Voicing concern for the blocked account, Mr. Tharoor said, “Democracy’s 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”. Reportedly, CJP’s X account was withheld in India in response to a legal complaint on Wednesday (May 20, 2026). The account had gained over two lakh followers after it set the social media frenzy for its satirical content. Taking the user’s views into cognisance, Mr. Tharoor’s post on X wrote, “Many users dismissed it as a Pakistani-manufactured conspiracy, but that is too simplistic: there are also counter-claims by Abhijeet Dipke that 94% of his followers are based in India. Whatever be the truth (and perhaps Instagram should put the record straight), my point is that suppressing it is foolish in a democracy”. Significantly, the satirical digital outfit, CJP, founded by Boston University student Abhijeet Dipke, gained a staggering 19 million followers in Instagram within a week of being formed. On Thursday (May 21, 2026), Mr. Dipke’s parents told a local news channel in Maharashtra that they have lost their sleep after learning about the former’s moves. “We are not keen to let our son enter the politics,” they added. I welcome the pushback to my post and interview on the #CockroachJantaParty phenomenon. Many users dismissed it as a Pakistani-manufactured conspiracy, but that is too simplistic: there are also counter-claims by @abhijeet_dipke that 94% of his followers are based in India.… Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) May 22, 2026 Further, Mr. Tharoor also wrote, “Whatever 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,”. Drawing a parallel with a pressure cooker, he posted, “Such movements serve like the valves on a pressure-cooker, letting off steam. If the valves were closed, the cooker would explode under the pressure. I 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. Let’s lift the ban and tune in!”. Meanwhile, Mr. Tharoor’s post in X, extending support to CJP, has arrived second time in a row within the last 24 hours. On Thursday night, Mr. Tharoor shared that he was “intrigued” by the rise of ‘Cockroach Janta Party’, which has already reached more than 15 million followers on Instagram. Calling to lift the ban, he wrote, “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”.