The Daily PulsePolitics
Congress Faces Reality Check Among Gen Z After Mixed Student Poll Results and Rallies
Reported by Kunal Bhatia (Senior Writer) · Indian Express - Political Pulse ·
Reported by one source so far
Representative image · Wikimedia CommonsRahul Gandhi recently addressed a large crowd of students in Indore during the fifth edition of his 'Chhatron ki Goonj' event. Thousands of young people applauded as he spoke about the role of students who ask questions compared to a system controlled by a handful of people. Similar events have taken place in Pune, Dehradun, Prayagraj, and Kota. Even as Rahul reached out to youth in Madhya Pradesh, Delhi students delivered a different message to the Congress party. The RSS student wing ABVP won three of the four main posts in the Delhi University Students Union elections. In June and July, Delhi saw major Gen Z protests over exam irregularities, unemployment, and other education issues. These protests led to the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan as Union Education Minister. However, in the DUSU polls, students chose to re-elect the ABVP for president, secretary, and joint secretary.
Election Results
The Congress student wing NSUI drew a blank in the DUSU polls after winning the vice-president seat last year. The party nominated a tribal candidate, Vijay Shankar Meena, for president in what has traditionally been a Jat and Gujjar battle. Meena recorded an increase in votes compared to the party's figure from the previous year. Yet, the DUSU results highlighted deep caste faultlines among young voters. The party also suffered a major loss in the vice-president election due to internal rifts. Congress denied a ticket to Deepanshu Shokeen, who then ran as an Independent and won against the ABVP rival. Shokeen campaigned barefoot to demand better student hostels after a tragic building collapse in Satya Niketan killed seven people, including five DU students.
Party Troubles
Congress also faced accusations of nepotism for giving a ticket to Veer Chatrath, son of AICC headquarters in-charge Manish Chatrath, for the vice-president post. Veer Chatrath finished a distant third. Meanwhile, political opponents have stepped up their own youth outreach. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has engaged with Gen Z via Instagram reels, and the government agreed to withdraw FIRs against students involved in paper leak protests. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat also stated that youth protesters were not anti-national. Political analysts note that while Rahul Gandhi's public image is shifting and his rallies draw crowds, this does not automatically translate into votes for the party. The Congress continues to struggle with weak grassroots organization, internal factionalism, and a lack of booth-level planning compared to the BJP.
ExplainerWhy this matters
What Happened
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been touring various cities for his 'Chhatron ki Goonj' outreach events targeting Gen Z students, but his party suffered a heavy defeat in the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) elections, where the rival ABVP swept most posts and an Independent candidate won the vice-presidency.
Why It Matters
This situation exposes a disconnect between large political rallies and actual electoral outcomes at the grassroots level. While mass student outreach and public speeches help build a leader's national image, they do not automatically convert into votes or resolve deep-seated organizational weaknesses, internal factionalism, and caste divisions within a political party.
What Happens Next
Political parties will likely intensify their digital and ground-level campaigns to capture the youth vote ahead of upcoming state and central elections. For the Congress, the core question remains whether the leadership will move beyond image-building events to rebuild its grassroots party machinery and fix internal coordination.
