Who is the most popular Chief Minister on Social Media?

Social media has become an indispensable instrument of political communication, transforming the way elected leaders engage with citizens, shape public narratives and maintain visibility beyond traditional political platforms. Recognising this shift, Whispers in the Corridors conducted a survey of Chief Ministers’ followings across X, Instagram and Facebook, offering a snapshot of the digital reach of India’s state leadership. The magazine notes that Facebook remains particularly important for many CMs, even as Instagram and X continue to gain traction.

The clear leader in the survey is Yogi Adityanath of Uttar Pradesh, whose combined following stands at 63.3 million. His reach is spread across X (32.8 million), Instagram (17.5 million) and Facebook (13 million), giving him a commanding lead over every other CM featured. The survey outcome describes him as an active social-media communicator with substantial reach.

The second position belongs to C. Joseph Vijay of Tamil Nadu, with 32.4 million followers. His enormous digital following is strongly influenced by his earlier career as a film actor, with Instagram accounting for 19.1 million followers, Facebook 7.7 million and X 5.6 million.

Devendra Fadnavis, the Maharashtra CM, is at the third position with 18.3 million, driven principally by Facebook, while Pushkar Singh Dhami of Uttarakhand ranks fourth with 13.3 million, including an impressive 11 million on Facebook.

The fifth position goes to Himanta Biswa Sarma of Assam, who commands a combined 10.7 million followers across the three platforms. The regional picture is equally revealing: Yogi leads the North, Vijay the South, Fadnavis the West, Sarma the Northeast, Dr Mohan Yadav the Central region and Samrat Choudhary the East. The survey also identifies the Northeast as the least active region overall, with Assam standing out as a notable exception.

Beyond follower numbers, the survey points to an emerging political-management culture in which digital performance itself is being monitored. The magazine says the social-media assessment considers daily posting, engagement, likes, the geographic origin of followers and overall traction, while comparing reach across X, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn. It also highlights Prime Minister Narendra Modi's extensive digital presence and his emphasis on connecting with younger, particularly Gen-Z, audiences.

Ultimately, the ranking is more than a popularity contest. It reflects the changing architecture of political communication in India, where a leader's ability to command attention online can influence visibility, narrative-building and citizen engagement. The figures also demonstrate that there is no single formula for digital success: some leaders dominate through Facebook, others through Instagram or X, while the strongest performers combine substantial audiences across all three platforms. Whispers in the Corridors, cautions that the figures were recorded during August 2026 and are subject to change over time.

Know the Chief Ministers:

1.      Yogi Adityanath — Uttar Pradesh: The survey's runaway No. 1, with 63.3M followers and a particularly powerful presence on X.

2.     C. Joseph Vijay — Tamil Nadu: Ranked second with 32.4M followers; his exceptionally large Instagram audience is linked in the article to his film-star background.

3.      Devendra Fadnavis — Maharashtra: Third with 18.3M, with Facebook emerging as his strongest platform.

4.      Pushkar Singh Dhami — Uttarakhand: Fourth with 13.3M, overwhelmingly driven by his 11M Facebook following.

5.     Himanta Biswa Sarma — Assam: Fifth with 10.7M, maintaining a relatively balanced presence across Facebook, Instagram and X.

6.      N. Chandrababu Naidu — Andhra Pradesh: Has 8.2M followers, with X accounting for the largest share at 5.1M.

7.      Bhagwant Mann — Punjab: Commands 6.9M, led by Facebook with 3.6M followers.

8.      Mohan Yadav — Madhya Pradesh: Has 4.9M, split principally between Facebook and Instagram, indicating reach across both established and younger audiences.

9.     Samrat Choudhary — Bihar: Has 4.8M, more than four-fifths of which comes from Facebook.

10.  Omar Abdullah — Jammu & Kashmir: Has 3.8M, with X accounting for a striking 3.1M of his total.

11.  Suvendu Adhikari — West Bengal: Listed with 3.7M followers, led by Facebook at 2.6M.

12.  A. Revanth Reddy — Telangana: Has 3.4M, with Facebook and Instagram relatively close in size.

13. D. K. Shivakumar — Karnataka: Records approximately 3M, with Facebook, Instagram and X providing a comparatively even spread.

14.  V. D. Satheesan — Kerala: Listed with 2.9M, unusually strong on Instagram, which accounts for 1.9M followers.

15.  Hemant Soren — Jharkhand: Has 2.8M, with 1.2M each on X and Facebook and another 375K on Instagram.

16.  Bhajan Lal Sharma — Rajasthan: Has 2.7M, led by Instagram with 1.3M, followed by Facebook and X.

17.  Rekha Gupta — Delhi: Has built a following of 2.5M, with a strong combination of Facebook and Instagram audiences.

18.  Nayab Singh Saini — Haryana: Has 2.2M, with Facebook providing the bulk of his digital audience.

19.  Vishnu Deo Sai — Chhattisgarh: Records 2M, led by Facebook at 1.2M, followed by Instagram.

20.  Bhupendra Patel — Gujarat: Has 1.8M and one of the more evenly distributed audiences across the three platforms.

21.  Conrad K. Sangma — Meghalaya: Has approximately 847.5K, distributed relatively evenly across Facebook, Instagram and X.

22.  Pema Khandu — Arunachal Pradesh: Has 814K, primarily on Facebook and X, while Instagram remains comparatively small.

23.  Mohan Charan Majhi — Odisha: Records 624K, with Instagram his largest platform at 281K.

24.  Pramod Sawant — Goa: Has a combined following of 598K, with Facebook leading at 280K.

25. Manik Saha — Tripura: Has 535.9K, almost four-fifths of the audience being concentrated on Facebook.

26.  Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu — Himachal Pradesh: Has 472K, led by Facebook at 250K, followed by Instagram and X.

27.  Prem Singh Tamang — Sikkim: Has 217.1K, with Facebook overwhelmingly dominating his social-media audience.

28.  Lalduhoma — Mizoram: Records 210K, with Instagram narrowly ahead of Facebook as his largest platform.

29.  Yumnam Khemchand Singh — Manipur: Has 126.1K, with Facebook accounting for the vast majority of his following.

30.  Neiphiu Rio — Nagaland: Has 109.8K, almost 90% of which is concentrated on X.

31.  N. Rangasamy — Puducherry: Has the smallest following in the survey at 19.4K, with Facebook contributing 15K.

(Editorial note: The profiles and rankings above reproduce the information presented in the September 2026 issue of Whispers in the Corridors, magazine. The follower figures of the CMs were captured during August 2026 and can change over time. Neither does it reflect our editorial policy nor opinion.)