Rush Hour: Cockroach Janta Party’s X account blocked, ‘orange’ heatwave alert for Delhi and more

The X account of satirical political campaign Cockroach Janta Party was blocked in India “in response to a legal demand”. The social media campaign, which began on Saturday in response to comments made by Chief Justice Surya Kant, describes itself as a “political front of the youth, by the youth, for the youth”.

It was created by Abhijeet Dipke, a 30-year-old political communications strategist from Pune. Dipke was part of the Aam Aadmi Party’s social media team. The campaign had garnered 15.5 million followers on Instagram as of Thursday evening, ahead of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s 8.8 million.

On Thursday, Dipke asked if the page had been withheld because the campaign had sought the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for medical college admissions being cancelled following a paper leak. He described the blocking order as an “own goal” by the authorities. Read on.

The Calcutta High Court directed the West Bengal Police not to take coercive action against Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee till July 31 for his allegedly provocative remarks about Union Home Minister Amit Shah at political rallies during the Assembly election campaign.

The bench said that Banerjee did not need to be interrogated in custody and that...

Read more