A satirical Indian group called the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) has gained widespread attention after surpassing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Instagram followers. Within hours of this surge, the Modi government shut down the CJP’s Instagram account and banned its X account in India, according to the group. Founder Abhijit Deepak shared a screenshot of the blocked account and urged his more than 10 million followers to protest the move, saying the group had only demanded accountability from the education minister following a student’s suicide.

The CJP has been calling for the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan since the cancellation of India’s national pre-medical entrance exam over alleged question paper leaks. The exam is scheduled to be retaken in June, but the cancellation has triggered frustration among students nationwide, with Indian media reporting at least two student suicides linked to the incident.

India’s legal framework allows the government to order social media platforms to remove content or block accounts on national security or public order grounds, though such directives are rarely made public.