New Delhi:
Seven MPs, two-thirds of the AAP’s total strength in the Rajya Sabha – these were the headline numbers when Raghav Chadha announced he was quitting the party, and a merger with the BJP was in the offing.
Less than a day later, there was another figure that was grabbing eyeballs: 1.1 million.
That is the number of followers the Rajya Sabha MP lost on Instagram since he made the announcement.
The move has triggered sharp reactions both within the party and on social media.
NDTV tracked Raghav Chadha’s Instagram account after reports emerged that users were unfollowing him. According to the data, on the day of the announcement, he had 14.2 million followers.
As of now, his follower count has declined to 13.1 million, indicating that nearly 1.1 million users have unfollowed him within just 24 hours.
Reacting to the drop, AAP MLA and spokesperson Sanjeev Jha said, “Party volunteers and supporters have started unfollowing him on Instagram because he betrayed the party. People do not like his move. He always made reels to attract them, but that is also not working in his favour.”
Another AAP leader said the drop in social media followers indicates that his popularity is declining.
Amid these developments, AAP has taken a strong stance against the rebel MPs. AAP said that “seven of our MPs have joined the BJP through illegal means. This is against the anti-defection law.” The party added that the law does not recognise such a split as valid and that action should be taken.
The party said it would write to the Rajya Sabha Chairman, demanding the disqualification of these MPs.