4 min readUpdated: Aug 3, 2026 07:21 PM IST
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat will interact with around 2,000 students aged 15 to 19 in Mumbai on August 6 in what BJP and RSS insiders describe as the Sangh’s most significant outreach to Gen Z and Gen Alpha since the Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) protests over the alleged NEET paper leak culminated in Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation.
The event comes weeks after the student-led agitation prompted introspection within the Sangh Parivar over its engagement with young people, with BJP and RSS leaders privately acknowledging a widening disconnect with the demographic. Senior Sangh functionaries said Bhagwat has not addressed students on such a scale since 2021.
At the height of the protests, Bhagwat had argued for a different approach to engaging young people. “We need to communicate with students. Not dictation but discussion. Not orders but consensus,” he had said while addressing a gathering in New Delhi. Observing that the younger generation asks questions rather than accepting instructions unquestioningly, Bhagwat said they needed to be engaged through dialogue, affection and reason. “When we were young it was an era of obedience. That is not the case anymore. The new generation asks questions. We have to explain the reasoning to them. We need to give them a lot of affection and time,” he had said.
According to BJP insiders, Bhagwat’s intervention triggered introspection within the organisation. “The resignation of Pradhan came only after the RSS chief’s public remarks. There was a realisation that the anger among students could not be brushed aside,” a senior functionary said.
Since then, the Sangh has sharpened its focus on youth outreach. RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale last week urged educational institutions to evolve with the aspirations of a changing generation while remaining rooted in India’s civilisational values. Joint general secretary Atul Limaye, meanwhile, asked the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) to examine how Left organisations had succeeded in setting the agenda during the protests, calling on the student organisation to evolve its own approach.
Within the BJP too, the protests have prompted a wider review of the party’s engagement with young people. Despite a series of outreach videos by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, senior leaders admit the agitation exposed organisational weaknesses.
“The protests showed there is a disconnect between the organisation and students. After 12 years in power, much of the party functions from the top down. Our youth and women’s wings have increasingly become implementers of government programmes instead of independent political organisations,” a senior BJP functionary said.
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The BJP has since directed the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha and the ABVP to step up their engagement with students. A fortnight-long outreach campaign centred around the Independence Day celebrations is expected to be rolled out across the country, including Maharashtra. The Centre and the Delhi government have also announced an anti-drug campaign aimed at young people.
Bhagwat’s August 6 address will inaugurate the India International Movement to Unite Nations’ (I.I.M.U.N.) 15th anniversary championship conference at the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre, bringing together more than 2,000 students aged 15 to 19 from over 100 cities. According to the organisers, the session will focus on “The Role of Youth in Uniting the World, the Indian Way.”
“In light of the current developments in the country, we invited Shri Mohan Bhagwat ji to engage in a dialogue with Generation Z because we felt it was important for young people to hear his perspective and participate in a meaningful exchange of ideas,” said Ateeb Imtiyaz, a member of I.I.M.U.N.’s core council.
