'Close down CJP or get killed': Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke gets death threats on social media

New Delhi: Abhijeet Dipke, the founder of the satirical Cockroach Janta Party, on Friday shared death threat messages he received on social media, a day after CJP's 'X' account was withheld in India even as senior Congress MP Shashi Tharoor cautioned against such actions saying democracy’s great virtue is the outlets it provides for public sentiment, frustration and grievances.

One of the messages received by Dipke, who is currently based in Boston, shared images of messages, claiming that money will be paid to him for closing down the CJP account or else he will be killed in the United States. Another message said the sender got his number now and it would not take much time for him to find his house.

The CJP appeared on 'X' on May 16 as a response to Chief Justice of India Surya Kant's reference to unemployed youth as cockroaches a day before though he had later clarified that he was "misquoted".

It became a rage on social media, as its 'X' handle got over two lakh followers before it was withheld in India and Instagram handle crossed 20.4 million on Friday afternoon, much above BJP's 8.8 million.

While CJP's X handle was withheld in India, it can be accessed elsewhere as withheld notices are territorial. There were reports that the account was withheld after the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology action on a report from the Intelligence Bureau that raised "national security concerns".

Following this, Dipke later started another handle 'Cockroach is Back' and has garnered over 1.62 lakh followers. On Friday, the CJP also launched a campaign seeking the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan following the NEET-UG 2026 exam paper leak.

Commenting on the issue, Tharoor said on 'X' that MANY users have "dismissed" the account as a "Pakistani-manufactured conspiracy, but that is too simplistic". He said there are counter-claims by Dipke, who said 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. 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," he said.

"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," he said.

Tharoor said such movements serve like the "valves on a pressure-cooker, letting off steam" and 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," he added.