The Gen Z in the country has made its presence felt with the Cockroach Janata Party protests and now many politicians are afraid of it, Nationalist Congress Party leader Rohit Pawar told NDTV at the NDTV Yuva Conclave today.
“Right now, what is happening is that during the protest in Delhi, many youth and Gen Zs showed up. Their movement became so large that a minister had to step down, marking a huge success. Seeing that, many politicians in power are now afraid of Gen Z. These outreaches included the ones on social media and attempts to figure out what they like — for example the time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi went to a devotional event.
So, they started initiatives to reach Gen Z,” he said. These, he said, are only efforts to convince the Gen Z that they are trying to “align” with them.
Today, too much focus is placed on caste-based and religion-based politics. “But youth are smart. They pay attention to your actual work, the issues you address, and how you fight for them. Don’t fake it. If you act, the youth will spot it immediately. But if you genuinely address an issue that affects them – like education or youth policy – they will stand by you. “You have to clearly state what changes you want in education, what policies you intend to bring, and then take action. “Nobody cared about caste or religion. They cared that an injustice was done regarding the NEET exam.
Because it affected their generation as a whole,” he said, young people from engineering, commerce, and various fields came together.
It all depends on your approach,” he said. Asked about the expectations of Gen Z, he said issue-based politics is extremely crucial to them. If someone speaks out against a major leader, the party machinery – from ministers down to workers – focuses solely on trolling or defending that leader rather than addressing the core issue,” he said.
