India's Instagram Gen Z dents Modi's aura ahead of key state polls

Nearly five weeks after leaders of India's youth-led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) launched protests demanding the resignation of the education minister over exam paper leaks, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, 75, released an unusual selfie video expressing concern for the demonstrators and pledging to address their grievances.

The video, shared on Instagram late Thursday, came after the CJP rapidly attracted 22 million, mostly Gen Z, followers within days in May.

Despite Modi's message, it failed to calm the thousands of protesters who had gathered in central Delhi, endured a heavy police crackdown earlier in the week, and sparked similar demonstrations across the country. On Saturday, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned, fulfilling the protesters' primary demand and marking a rare political setback for Modi.

Pradhan's resignation represented a significant victory for the CJP, whose young supporters had boldly criticized and mocked Modi through rap performances, placards, and graffiti, an almost unimaginable challenge just weeks earlier in a nation where Modi has dominated the political landscape since taking office in 2014.

"A large number of people who were at the protest may actually be his supporters — and that's quite different from other kinds of protests in the past," said Sanjay Srivastava, anthropology professor at SOAS University of London.

"What might be interpreted as a win is the fact that there is now a much wider cross-section of people questioning the government. A much wider cross-section has begun to question the idea that the ruling party is necessarily good for the country."

The protests were triggered by a leaked medical entrance exam, but there are other issues, mainly youth unemployment and fears among young people that AI could take their jobs in areas such as IT back offices, for which India is well known, analysts said.

"The paper leak is a trigger point," political analyst Amitabh Tiwari said. "It is largely a reflection of the anxiety, nervousness, discontent, frustration and anger among the youth."

Modi's senior ministerial colleague Rajnath Singh said the government's "top priority remains to understand our students' genuine concerns, address them promptly, and ensure that they know their voices are being heard".