{"id":356662,"date":"2025-09-19T15:22:49","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T09:52:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/?p=356662"},"modified":"2025-09-19T15:28:00","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T09:58:00","slug":"congress-bjp-clash-over-rahuls-gen-z-call","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/congress-bjp-clash-over-rahuls-gen-z-call\/","title":{"rendered":"Congress-BJP clash over Rahul’s Gen Z call"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Congress MP Rahul Gandhi\u2019s appeal to India\u2019s Gen Z to take an active role in safeguarding the Constitution and preventing alleged \u201cvote theft\u201d has sparked a fierce backlash from the ruling BJP, which accused him of inciting violence and attempting to stir civil unrest in India. BJP leader Nishikant Dubey also claimed that Gandhi is collaborating with the Soros Foundation to divide the nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The war of words erupted after Gandhi, fresh off his second round of voter fraud allegations, urged the country’s youth to defend democracy and resist alleged electoral manipulation. \u201cThe nation\u2019s youth, the nation\u2019s students, the nation\u2019s Gen Z, will defend the Constitution, protect democracy, and stop vote theft. I always stand with them. Jai Hind!\u201d Gandhi wrote in Hindi on X<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In response, Dubey said that Gen Z has rejected corruption and dynastic politics\u2014a pointed reference to Gandhi\u2019s family lineage, which includes several former prime ministers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Gen Z will not tolerate leaders like Rahul Gandhi, he wrote posing questions like \u201c1. Why would they tolerate Rahul Ji after Nehru Ji, Indira Ji, Rajiv Ji, Sonia Ji? \u201c2. They are against corruption; why wouldn\u2019t they chase you away? \u201c3. They want to create an Islamic nation in Bangladesh and a Hindu nation in Nepal\u2014why wouldn\u2019t they make India a Hindu nation? \u201cGet ready to leave the country; they are coming\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Generation Z, also known as Zoomers, includes those born roughly between 1997 and 2012. As the first generation of digital natives, they\u2019ve grown up with the internet, smartphones, and social media, influencing their values and behaviours. Known for their digital fluency, commitment to diversity, and environmental concerns, Gen Z\u2019s political and social views have it in them to political discourse, as was seen recently in Nepal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The question is will Gandhi’s allegations about \u201cvote theft\u201d, including specifics about his previous accusations or any ongoing investigations, provide context for his appeal to Gen Z. Analysts say the BJP\u2019s response is not just a simple counter-attack, it  raises a serious accusation of Gandhi inciting violence or even instigating a civil war. Why the BJP views Gandhi\u2019s words as dangerous is in mind past political unrest and of course as a party of political strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gandhi\u2019s supporters rubbish BJP\u2019s allegations saying that Gandhi’s appeal to Gen Z is an appeal to politically active youth both on social media and in street protests as the younger generation is a powerful voice in any debate. How Gen Z responds to the political back-and-forth between Gandhi and the BJP, especially in mind upcoming state elections, remains to be seen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi\u2019s appeal to India\u2019s Gen Z to take an active role in safeguarding the Constitution and preventing alleged \u201cvote theft\u201d has sparked a fierce backlash from the ruling BJP, which accused him of inciting violence and attempting to stir civil unrest in India. BJP leader Nishikant Dubey also claimed that Gandhi is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":356663,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[36,1801],"tags":[16188,16003,16631,15620,19726],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356662"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=356662"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356662\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":356666,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356662\/revisions\/356666"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/356663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=356662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=356662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=356662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}