Prime Minister Narendra Modi and opposition leader Rahul Gandhi's Instagram posts saw a surge in online engagement after protests led by the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) in Delhi's Jantar Mantar gained prominence, according to an analysis shared by Data Beings on Wednesday.
Data Beings stated that there were notable changes in political engagement with the online presence of politics and politicians after July 20, when the CJP led 'Sansad Chalo' protests began.
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"Learning From CJP Protest, India's political class seems to have correctly identified Instagram as the battleground where future election outcomes will be decided," DataBeings wrote in its 'X' post.
𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺 𝗶𝗻 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 - 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗠𝗼𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗚𝗲𝗻 𝗭'𝘀 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗱
— Data Beings (@DataBeings) August 26, 2026
Learning From CJP Protest, India's political class seems to have correctly identified Instagram as the battleground where future election outcomes will be decided.
The charts below show… pic.twitter.com/Gt1iASnGGO
PM Modi saw a 290% jump in average Instagram engagement per post to 4.63 million from 1.19 million. LoP Rahul Gandhi, an Indian National Congress party leader also saw a similar increase, with average engagement increasing to 426,000 from 152,000.
The INC's Instagram posts saw a 43% increase to 72,000 from 50,000, while the PM Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) saw a 37% increase to 34,000 from 25,000.
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PM Modi's follower count swelled by one million on Instagram last month, after he uploaded a selfie video to assure students of action in the NEET paper leak case.
The stir in Delhi ended on July 25, 2026 after Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned. His exit was one of the main demands raised by the CJP.
As per reports, the Prime Minister had issued a directive to Union Cabinet ministers to ramp up their presence on Instagram, via creation of reels (vertical short videos) as well as engaging directly with younger audiences.
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