A day after Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha quit the Aam Aadmi Party and joined the BJP, he lost about a million Instagram followers.
The drop in followers may suggest that he has lost some of his younger audience, who may be disapproving of his party switch.
On Friday, Chadha announced that he and six other AAP Rajya Sabha MPs are leaving the Arvind Kejriwal-led party and switching over to the BJP. He said that he left like he was the right man in the wrong party.
Following the announcement, the 37 year old politicians’ Instagram account saw a drop in followers within 24 hours. The number, which stood at 14.6 million on Friday, dropped to 13.3 million on Saturday evening.
Some political observers say that this was driven by Gen Z users who followed a viral unfollow campaign.
NCP(SP) spokesperson Anish Gawande said in a post on X, “The internet can make you a hero overnight. The internet can also bring you down to zero overnight."
Chadha previously had connected with youth followers by bringing up issues that were overlooked in mainstream politics. He even briefly worked as a delivery partner for a quick commerce platform to highlight concerns about gig workers.
After the Centre mandated that companies remove the 10-minute delivery model, Chadha’s image became that of an accessible politician.
He once also shared an Instagram reel, which suggested that he should form a Gen Z party of his own.
One of the popular personalities who joined the unfollow campaign was mountaineer Rohtash Khileri, who recently became the first person to stay 24 hours on Europe's Mount Elburs without oxygen support.