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

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has posted a series of Instagram reels 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, also referred to as Gen -Z, aged between 14 and 29. The oldest among them had just started voting in 2014 when Mr. Modi came to power; the youngest were barely two years old. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat is also reaching out to the young generation and exploring ways to engage with them.

One particular video, in which Mr. Modi offers forgiveness to young protesters who made vulgar remarks against him and his mother, has attracted widespread public attention. He described them as “misguided children” and said it was society’s responsibility to guide them. Some see it as an act of magnanimity, while others see it as an act of duplicity, considering the high level of tolerance for bad language within the Sangh ecosystem

This raises a larger question: who exactly is he addressing through his new reel politics? Is he addressing Gen Z, or is he addressing their parents — the WhatsApp generation? It appears plausible that Mr. Modi, and the RSS chief, may not be trying to win over the Instagram generation, but rather to consolidate the WhatsApp generation, whose original support for the BJP is currently shaky. This outreach is guided by the wisdom of the patriarch that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. The idea is more to stop the unravelling of what the Sangh Parivar holds, and less to win over what it does not have. Mr. Modi and Mr. Bhagwat are talking to fellow patriarchs more than to the protesters. What they are expressing is a combination of paternalistic responsibility and authority, rallying the parents of Gen-Z, the stormtroopers of Hindutva.

Mr. Modi’s popularity was built on a network of WhatsApp communities in the run-up to the 2014 election. There were around six crore Indians on WhatsApp then. It was through messages spread on that network that Mr. Modi’s persona was built. The worldview of the then aspirational youth, broadly the parents of Gen Z, is a matter of detail, but suffice it to say that it broadly aligns with the BJP.

There is little reason to think that they are revolting against Mr. Modi or his government, but there are at least two issues that appear to have raised doubts in their minds about his performance, apart from the anxiety they share with their children regarding their education and employment.. First, the embezzlement of donations by devotees at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya; and second, the snowballing concerns related to the mandatory blending of ethanol with petrol. Both these issues cut close to the bone for them: they are donors at Ayodhya, and they had associated their capacity to own a vehicle with the rise of Hindutva under Mr. Modi. This binds them in a complicated relationship with Mr. Modi. Their loyalty is shaken, but they are not willing to choose anyone over Mr. Modi. Or any ideology over the Sangh’s. 

Mr. Modi’s reels are talking to them, saying: look, your “daughters” are using abusive language; it was a “cultural shock”; and we need to do something. We need to correct and guide them. They are nudged to consider what is of utmost urgency: donation theft in Ayodhya, the health of automobiles, or the cultural shock of defiant daughters. This is an age-old message repurposed for the digital era, the notion of Kaliyuga in Hindu tradition, which is always imagined in the present as a breach of social and gender hierarchy and order.

Mr. Modi’s message appears to be landing well among the segment it is addressed to. The WhatsApp generation, going by anecdotal examples one can gather, is finding common cause with Mr. Modi in trying to ensure that their daughters are disciplined and cultured. No parent think the same rules apply to them and children – whether it is about foul language or alcohol consumption or sex. For centuries, the family has been an arena of assertion and a site of negotiation with the state for all forms of religious politics in India. Mr. Modi is offering to lead community elders in taking control of the unruly, rebellious generation. Gen-Z parents may even be willing to suspend their concerns regarding the Ayodhya embezzlement and ethanol blending.

What appears as Gen Z outreach may be aimed more at their parents and other elders, conveying that the BJP is their natural shelter and is best suited to uphold their cultural values. It is about rallying the patriarchs rather than pacifying the protestors. ENDS