The New Indian Express ·
Insider track | Eyes on Yogi’s digital clout
The UP Assembly election is still some distance away, but inside the BJP, there is already plenty of interest in CM Yogi Adityanath’s growing social-media presence. His Instagram following is said to be rising faster than that of any BJP leader except PM Narendra Modi. Some see it as another indication of Yogi’s growing standing in UP. Others wonder if there is something bigger behind the digital push, particularly with so many NextGen and Gen-Z followers. His team is active on Instagram, X, Facebook and YouTube, and his selfie videos are getting a big response. Yogi has 17.7 million followers on X, ahead of Rahul Gandhi’s roughly 15 million. As one senior BJP leader put it: after Modi, Yogi can give Rahul “takkar”.
Awaiting a ‘book bomb’
The BJP appears to be keeping an eye on what some leaders privately call “book bombs” — publications that could create trouble ahead of the 2029 Lok Sabha election and the Uttar Pradesh polls. The party has been through this before. A book by a former Army chief had caused political turbulence during a Parliament session, leaving the BJP to deal with the fallout. Now, the attention is on Sonia Gandhi’s forthcoming biography, Belonging: A Journey of Love, published by HarperCollins and due on November 10. “Let it come out,” a BJP MP said, adding that the party would first see what the book contains before reacting. The MP was clear that the BJP was not afraid. For now, it is simply wait and watch.
