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.

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 was addressing through his new reel politics. Is he addressing Gen-Z or their parents, the WhatsApp generation?