Congress leader Rahul Gandhi intensified his attack on the Election Commission (EC) and the ruling BJP, holding a press conference in New Delhi on November 5, 2025, where he presented what he claimed was the third set of proofs of election rigging. A key focus of his allegations and rhetoric was the youth, particularly Gen Z.
Allegations Centered on Bihar and Haryana
Gandhi’s claims of manipulated voter lists—specifically the addition or deletion of “lakhs of fake voters ‘to help the BJP’“—were centered on Haryana (where Congress lost to the BJP last year) and Bihar (where the election to unseat the BJP-JDU alliance is set for this month).
Direct Appeal to Gen Z
The Congress leader’s attention to the younger generation, often defined as those born in the late 1990s, was clear from the outset of the press conference. He urged the youth to take his allegations seriously:
“I want Gen-Z to take this seriously, because your future is being taken away from you. They are the one being stolen from,” he stated, just two days before voting commenced in the Bihar election.
He concluded his presentation with a similar call to action, stating: “India’s Gen Z and youth have the power to restore our democracy with satya and ahimsa (truth and non-violence).”
‘Gen Z’ Term Enters Indian Political Narrative
Gandhi’s explicit and repeated use of the term “Gen Z,” which is relatively new to Indian political discourse, is seen as an attempt to leverage growing frustrations among the youth over issues like unemployment, corruption, and inequality.
This shift in focus has become more pronounced following youth-led political upheavals in neighboring countries like Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. The term was also frequently used during recent protests in Ladakh. The timing of his appeals, including a prior press conference on “voter fraud” in September—the same month as the Nepal protests—drew attention. At the time, he wrote on X that the “country’s Gen Z will save the Constitution, protect democracy, and stop vote theft.”
The BJP interpreted Gandhi’s explicit mention of a “digitally native ‘Gen Z'” as an attempt to “incite a Nepal or Bangladesh-like situation” in India.
By directly addressing both the Gen Z and the backward classes, and framing his political struggle as one to “save the Constitution and democracy” against corruption, Gandhi is seeking to position the Congress as the primary champion of India’s marginalized, digitally connected, and disillusioned youth.