The surge began after Modi posted a late-night selfie-style video responding to the NEET paper leak controversy and the broader Cockroach Janta Party-led student movement, in which he acknowledged the distress paper leaks cause students and families, and said the government would pursue stricter measures, including fast-track courts for examination malpractice. The video reportedly gained close to a million followers overnight and racked up hundreds of millions of views. A follow-up video the next day, thanking young viewers for their suggestions, added roughly another 10 lakh followers and drew further massive engagement, though it also prompted pointed pushback online — CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke responded to the second video with a meme questioning the government's actual follow-through.

The momentum wasn't limited to Modi's own account. The BJP's official Instagram handle, with around 9.5 million followers, ramped up activity in parallel, posting a series of reels focused on examination paper leaks, including content highlighting alleged cases in Punjab. Newly appointed Union Education Minister Pralhad Joshi also used Instagram to highlight the government's response to the NEET controversy, part of what's being described as a broader BJP digital outreach push during this period.

The milestone wasn't without a stumble. In the early hours of July 28, Facebook briefly restricted access to Modi's first selfie video addressing Gen Z protesters, with users seeing a message that the content was unavailable. Meta later said the removal was a mistake and restored the post, issuing an apology; sources indicated government officials were likely to summon Meta representatives for further explanation regardless.

Modi had already become the first serving world leader to cross 100 million Instagram followers earlier this year, holding a commanding lead over other global leaders — more than double the following of US President Donald Trump, whose 43.2 million followers trail Modi by a wide margin, with the combined total of the next five most-followed world leaders still falling short of Modi's individual count. He also holds over 106 million followers on X and around 54 million on Facebook, giving him one of the most extensive cross-platform digital footprints of any political leader globally.