With Prime Minister Narendra Modi leading a coordinated push, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has sharpened its digital outreach to young people on Instagram, following the recent NEET-UG paper leak controversy.
The heightened activity comes days after Modi urged his Cabinet colleagues to engage more actively with young people through Instagram reels. The party’s focus on the platform follows student-led protests over the NEET-UG paper leak, which underscored the growing influence of social media, particularly Instagram, in shaping political discourse among the youth. The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which led the student protests, was born as an online satirical movement in May this year, drawing over 26 million followers on Instagram till now.
PM MODI TOOK THE FIRST STEP
PM Modi himself posted a seriesof selfie-style videos on Instagram in recent days, thanking youngsters for their response and suggestions on issues such as examination reforms.
Modi, who has been using Instagram since 2014, gained around one million followers after uploading a midnight selfie video during the protests, taking his total following to about 105 million.
ON BJP’S OFFICIAL ACCOUNT
The BJP’s official Instagram account, with 9.5 million followers, is among the country’s most-followed political party handles. In recent days, it has been posting a series of reels centred on examination paper leaks, particularly highlighting alleged cases in Punjab.
The party’s recent posts also feature clips from Parliament on the introduction of The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, accusing the Opposition of disrupting discussions on the legislation while maintaining that it is aimed at curbing paper leaks and protecting students’ interests.
NEW EDUCATION MINISTER PRALHAD JOSHI NOT FAR BEHIND
Newly appointed Union Education Minister Pralhad Joshi has also used Instagram to highlight the government’s response to the NEET paper leak controversy.
“We implemented the strict Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024, which guarantees 10 years of imprisonment and heavy fines for the exam mafia.
“We want to permanently strengthen the system and are completely ready for a healthy, facts-based debate in Parliament. Even Akhilesh Yadav and several Congress MPs have said this issue should be discussed in Parliament. Unfortunately, due to the ego of one individual, that debate is not taking place,” Joshi said in one of his posts.
He urged everyone to rise above politics and join the discussion to strengthen the examination system.
While PM Modi’s videos were posted by all ministers on their Instagram, other posts have been mostly rare till a week back for many.
JP NADDA, JITENDRA SINGH TO KIREN RIJIJU AND NIRMALA SITHARAMAN: MINISTERS FOLLOW THE LEAD
Former BJP president and Union Minister J P Nadda has shared videos highlighting meetings with the Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) spokespersons on the NEET issue.
Union Minister of State for PMO Jitendra Singh has posted clips on the introduction of the Bill to amend the anti-paper leak law, along with videos appealing to students to remain patient and asserting that the government remained open to discussions during the protests held at Jantar Mantar.
In the case of Jitendra Singh, multiple posts have been made every day in the past one week, as against an average of four to five posts a week earlier.
Nadda has started posting several videos every day, though his earlier activity was very rare. Before the prime minister’s call, his last post was on July 4 and before that on June 27.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju has also uploaded several videos centred on the Bill and the paper leak issue. His posts include excerpts from his speeches in Parliament urging political parties to debate and support the Bill, describing examination paper leaks as a “serious national issue” rather than a matter of party politics.
While Rijiju has been among the more active ministers on Instagram, his activity has also gone up substantially now to over a dozen posts every day.
In other clips, he calls the Bill a “historic” and “uncompromising” measure to secure students’ future and curb examination malpractices.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has posted a video highlighting the government’s commitment to ensuring justice for the youth and bringing those responsible for examination paper leaks to justice through fast-track courts.
PIYUSH GOYAL POSTS VIDEOS
PM Modi on Sunday announced the constitution of a high-powered task force headed by Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani to recommend reforms to make the exam system leakproof.
Union Minister Piyush Goyal has similarly posted videos highlighting the government’s efforts to tackle examination paper leaks, including the provision for fast-track courts, while urging the Opposition, including the Congress, not to politicise the issue and instead participate in parliamentary discussions.
Women and Child Development Minister Annapurna Devi has used Instagram to focus on alleged examination and recruitment paper leaks in Jharkhand.
Her recent posts include videos and graphics carrying the slogan “Hemant Istifa Do”. In one video, she alleges that the voices of Jharkhand’s students are “not reaching Rahul Gandhi’s ears”, claiming that new layers of recruitment scams are being exposed in the state every day and calling for a CBI probe into the entire recruitment process.
ACTIVE VOICES
BJP IT department head Amit Malviya has also been among the party’s most active voices on Instagram during the anti-paper leak protests.
Referring to videos purportedly from the protest, he claimed they showed slogans calling for the restoration of Article 370, demands for “Azad Kashmir”, abuse directed at Hindu deities, the sexualisation of women, and calls for the release of those accused in the Delhi riots.
“If these videos accurately reflect what transpired, then the movement had clearly strayed far away from the legitimate concerns of students,” he said.
Malviya also questioned what he described as “different standards for different states”, asking why there was “outrage over UP but complete silence on Punjab” and “no mention of Karnataka where a paper leak was reported”. He also asked whether anyone had demanded the resignation of the education ministers in Punjab or Karnataka.
He claimed that the highest number of reported examination paper leak and examination malpractice cases during the 2025-26 academic year had emerged from states governed by the INDIA bloc, listing Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Punjab, Kerala and Karnataka.
He also said that the BJP-led government had enacted the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act and strengthened enforcement to deter paper leaks and ensure stringent punishment for those involved in examination malpractice.
The government on Monday introduced a Bill in the Lok Sabha to amend the anti-paper leaks law with stricter punishment of up to 10 years in jail and Rs 50 lakh fine.
The proposed legislation was introduced by Singh amid protests and sloganeering by the opposition demanding a response from the government over the police crackdown on students during the CJP-led July 20 protest march to Parliament.
With PTI inputs
