A day after his high-profile exit from the Aam Aadmi Party and entry into the Bharatiya Janata Party, Raghav Chadha appears to be facing a sharp social media backlash, particularly from younger users.
Chadha lost nearly one million followers on Instagram within 24 hours of his switch. His follower count dropped from 14.6 million on Friday to 13.3 million by Saturday afternoon.
Gen Z backlash and online campaign
Political observers say the drop reflects a strong reaction from Gen Z users, many of whom had previously engaged with Chadha’s issue-driven politics.
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An online trend calling for users to unfollow him gained traction soon after the announcement. NCP (SP) spokesperson Anish Gawande wrote on X that a “Gen Z unfollow campaign” had contributed to the sharp decline, adding that social media can rapidly shift public perception.
Several users pointed to comment sections on Chadha’s posts, where calls to unfollow were visible, while others noted that some earlier posts critical of the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had been removed.
A viral GenZ “unfollow” campaign on Instagram has led to Raghav Chadha’s followers dropping by 10 lakhs in 24 hours.
— Anish Gawande (@anishgawande) April 25, 2026
The internet can make you a hero overnight. The internet can also bring you down to zero overnight …
From youth appeal to political shift
Chadha has established an individual identity amongst the younger generation in politics through his engagement with mundane problems such as the plight of gig workers, mobile data limit issues, and various others in Parliament.
Chadha was also known to engage with realities on the ground, having briefly worked as a delivery partner to bring to light the problems of the gig economy. But it seems like his abrupt change of stance has unsettled one part of his political support base.
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Instagram/Raghav Chadha What lies ahead
As stated earlier, Chadha’s entry into the BJP coincided with another major repositioning, with some other MPs also changing their affiliations. Though the full political impact cannot be foreseen now, from the current trend on social media, one thing that does seem to be certain is how the younger voters have reacted.
It will become clear in the coming weeks how he succeeds in rebuilding his digital fan base as a BJP MP.
