In Modi’s Gen-Z outreach, parents are the key target

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has posted several reels on Instagram since July 23, in response to the student protests against his government in Delhi and many other parts of the country. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has also started addressing the youth of India. This was widely seen as a bold effort to reach out to the Instagram generation, or Gen Z, aged between 14 and 29. The oldest among them were one year shy of voting age in 2014, when Mr. Modi came to power; the youngest were two years old.

A particular video of Mr. Modi, in which he offers forgiveness to young protesters who made vulgar remarks against him, has attracted wide public interest. He described them as “misguided children”. Some see it as an act of magnanimity, while others see it as duplicity, considering the amount of vulgarity routinely mouthed by BJP affiliates. That leads us to the question of whom Mr. Modi is addressing through his new reel politics. Is he addressing Gen Z or their parents, the WhatsApp generation?