Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s push to turn National Handloom Day into a social-media campaign has drawn a pointed response from Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke, adding a political edge to an initiative aimed largely at younger audiences.
Modi posted an Instagram reel on August 6 asking people to mark National Handloom Day on August 7 by showcasing their favourite handloom products online. He encouraged users to make videos, including “Get Ready With Me”, or GRWM, clips, and share them under the hashtag #NationalHandloomDay. He also made a similar appeal on X.
Dipke responded beneath the Instagram reel with the two-word comment “prime influencer”. The remark quickly stood out because of the CJP founder’s emergence as a prominent voice in youth-led protests and his increasingly direct exchanges with the political establishment.
Modi’s video urged people to celebrate National Handloom Day with enthusiasm comparable to Friendship Day. Displaying colourful fabrics, he linked purchases of handwoven products to economic support for weaving families and the broader Atmanirbhar Bharat programme. He said consumers could help artisans by buying at least one handloom product and promoting it through their social-media networks.
The campaign reflects an effort to combine a traditional government observance with social-media formats familiar to younger users. GRWM videos, built around creators filming themselves selecting clothes or preparing for an occasion, have become a standard part of fashion and lifestyle content on Instagram and other short-video platforms.
National Handloom Day has been observed on August 7 since 2015. The date commemorates the launch of the Swadeshi Movement on August 7, 1905, when the campaign against colonial economic policies promoted domestic production and the use of locally made goods. The 2026 observance is the 12th National Handloom Day.
The handloom sector remains an important source of rural employment as well as a repository of traditional skills. The Fourth All India Handloom Census recorded 3,522,512 handloom workers. Government programmes have sought to expand market access, improve design capabilities and connect artisans with consumers through exhibitions, online commerce and branding initiatives.
Events surrounding this year’s observance have included the “Weaves of India” festival at the Central Cottage Industries Emporium in Janpath, New Delhi. Running from July 24 to August 7, the exhibition brought together examples representing 116 heritage weaves. A Handloom Hackathon was also organised to encourage technology, design, entrepreneurship and sustainability-focused solutions for the sector.
Dipke’s intervention, however, shifted attention towards another strand of Modi’s social-media engagement: the political conversation with younger citizens following weeks of agitation over examinations, employment and government accountability.
Later on August 6, Dipke released a separate video asking Modi to use his Independence Day address from the Red Fort on August 15 to speak specifically about young people and explain what steps the government was taking for them. He said the Prime Minister should directly address their concerns and aspirations.
The appeal came as the CJP moves from street mobilisation towards a wider public outreach programme. The group has announced a nationwide campaign called “Kya Bolti Public”, expected to focus initially on education before taking up employment and governance. Dipke has also said the organisation intends to operate as a pressure group rather than become a conventional electoral party.
The CJP emerged from an online movement in May and subsequently became the rallying point for demonstrations centred on examination irregularities, unemployment and demands for greater accountability. Dipke, a political communications strategist, became its most recognisable figure as the movement expanded from social-media posts to demonstrations and sit-ins in several cities.
Modi, meanwhile, has long relied heavily on direct digital communication, using social platforms to promote government initiatives and reach audiences outside conventional political forums. The handloom reel shows that approach increasingly borrowing the vocabulary and presentation styles of creator culture.
