Why Amit Malviya lost his job as BJP’s social media chief

Amit Malviya’s reign as the BJP’s online czar came to an end on Monday (August 17, 2026) after an 11-year run, with Deepak Mhaske, former social media convenor for the party in Chattisgarh, being appointed in his place.

Many reasons are being put forward for Mr. Malviya’s exit: the length of time he stayed in the position, a new party president wanting to bring in his own people and even the need for the BJP for a fresh look at how to engage Gen-Z on social media — that is, the rather obvious point that 2026 is not 2014.

All these reasons are true and interconnected.

Mr. Malviya had been given charge of BJP’s social media and information technology in 2015, taking over from Arvind Gupta, who had helmed the department for much of the party’s triumphant 2014 Lok Sabha campaign. Mr. Malviya then proceeded to hold that position for a better part of the BJP’s 12 years in power, till the Gen-Z protests hit.

The social media grammar deployed by the Gen-Z protesters was one of mockery and irreverence, and Mr. Malviya is being seen as heading a team not only unable to respond to the moment but also one that has appeared ossified in time as it depended on older social media methods.

That said, appointing Mr. Mhaske also sends out several messages on Mr. Malviya’s exit.

The first being that BJP president Nitin Nabin had worked closely with Mr. Mhaske when the former had been one of the party in-charges of the Chhattisgarh Assembly polls in 2023. Mr. Nabin was, at that time, a Minister in the Bihar government and peripheral to the larger organisational charting. His bonding with Mr. Mhaske was therefore organic and, as BJP president, he wanted someone within his own circle of trust to handle the party’s social media image.

Segmentary flavour over big-picture discourse

The second aspect of Mr. Mhaske’s appointment is the fact that much of the BJP’s engagement was largely seen as aimed at an urban sentiment and dealing with Gen-Z as a monolith urban phenomenon.

While lip service was paid to the fact that there were as many kinds of Gen-Z as there were other social and economic communities, this segmentary approach was not adopted.

Mr. Mhaske and Shiwanand Dwivedi (biographer of Home Minister Amit Shah) are expected to rouse the rural, semi-rural, tier-two Gen-Z sentiment, having their own particular concerns and issues. Expect the BJP’s online engagement to now have more of a micro-aimed and segmentary flavour than the big-picture discourses of the past.

Nothing has been said of Mr. Malviya’s future within the BJP after the new team was announced, but he had been part of the winning team of the West Bengal polls, being national secretary in charge of the State.

BJP insiders say that while he may have failed to meet the moment during the Gen-Z protests, he may yet get another assignment soon.