Why is BJP So Jumpy About ‘Gen Z’ or the Prospect of the ‘Nepal Model’ in India?

To most students of political science watching the sub-continent, popular stirs leading to a change of government in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal are not textbook previews for similar change in India. India’s deep roots in democracy post-1952 are undeniable. It is perhaps the only poor country freed from colonial rule in the 1940s which has managed the transition of regimes after credible and largely peaceful elections at regular intervals.

Even the 18 month-long Emergency was washed away in an election whose credibility no one doubted for a second. All of this makes it an outlier in South Asia.

With a record like that, agitated talk of ‘Gen Z’ being able to trigger a ‘Nepal-model’ from senior ruling party leaders reveals an unease which is intriguing. Godda MP Nishikant Dubey and Mandi MP Kangana Ranaut have been bristling at leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi for saying, “Gen Z will save the Constitution.” Surely, with 65% of India below the age of 35, that is a constitutional expectation, so why the jumpy demeanour?

The question is answered, if cryptically, by the senior adviser of the Minister for Information and Broadcasting, an old and seasoned Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hand, in a tweet claiming ‘Gen Z’ support for Modi ji.

And what are the ‘Gen Z’ hooligans he has posted about actually saying?

“Modi Ji latth bajao, hum tumhare saath hain; lambe-lambe latth bajao, hum tumhare saath hain; kheench-kheench ke latth bajao, hum tumhare saath hain…”

Loosely translated, this means, “Go on, Modi ji, wield the stick, and wield it with all your might, we are with you.” The scenes of an energetic mob – whether Gen Z or not is hard to tell – presumably supportive of some strong-arm move by ‘Modi ji’ can be seen on the 14-second video.

Meanwhile, GenZ in Uttar Pradesh shaking up things to the chant of ‘Modi Ji latth bajao, hum tumhare saath hain; lambe-lambe latth bajao, hum tumhare saath hain; kheench-kheench ke latth bajao, hum tumhare saath hain…’
(Video via post on Facebook.)u pic.twitter.com/Iajcfi0nxw

— Kanchan Gupta 🇮🇳 (@KanchanGupta) September 29, 2025

Concerns over playbook theft?

Whether street protest or mob violence, bringing people onto the streets has been central to the BJP’s expansion programme – one that proved so rewarding for the party as it scaled up from the country’s political fringe to occupy centre-stage as a major Opposition force. In the 1980s, the BJP’s yatras – including the Rath Yatra led by party president LK Advani which left a trail of destruction in its wake – were about rallying crowds and mobs on the street.

The Ayodhya upsurge, which resulted in the demolition of the Babri mosque in December 1992 – by “vandals” as per the Supreme Court ruling, but by “angry Hindus”, per the BJP – was actually meant to demonstrate the power of the saffron crowd compared to the sterile political mobilisations by other political forces.

If the gathering of mobs and crowds on the streets was easy to justify out of power, the BJP has not dropped the ball on mob-ilisation when in power too. To have mobs on the streets rallying for the government’s policies is actually an ideal way to signal that the BJP truly holds sway.

In Gujarat in 2002, it was mobs that went ahead and asserted control – to ‘teach Muslims a lesson they would never forget’ – with the BJP government in both Ahmedabad and in Delhi watching indulgently. The instrumentalisation of mob power in Gujarat was potent politically and yielded electoral dividends.

Mobs are on, in or out of power

In the eleven-plus years that the BJP has held power in Delhi so far, all mobilisations that have a touch of ‘popular support’ outside the BJP/RSS universe have been followed by vicious crackdowns. At the same time, the regime is happy to outsource the state’s legal monopoly over violence to groups it agrees with, such as cow-vigilantes who attack and sometimes kill those they accuse of being involved in illegal cattle trading, or others who rally in support of the government.

But to those who may be opposed to the BJP politically or ideologically – potential agitators in Kashmir after Article 370 was scrapped, farmers demanding rollback of three unlawfully enacted laws, Muslims on the streets against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019 – the space has shrunk dramatically. People who come on to the streets all potentially face a future like Umar Khalid.

Sonam Wangchuk, once a darling of the government, an iconic figure rendered bigger as Aamir Khan’s Phunsuk Wangdoo in 3 Idiots, is now an enemy of the state for his ability to rouse people and make cogent arguments and stand steadfast against the BJP’s mismanagement in Ladakh and betrayal of its own manifesto.

The caste census was conceded by the BJP, sanguine about being able to manage the agitations and unease it may yield to. After all, it saw itself as the only party able to whip up smaller (non-dominant) caste groups on the streets and then also be in a position to offer them accommodation and a place.

But things have gone off-script. The economic slowdown is real and India’s inability to create jobs is no longer a secret. Genuine anger is visible – in ‘paper leak’ campaigns or in youth agitations against “vacancies not being opened”. Farmer mobilisations have already forced Modi to abandon farm laws and most recently unexpected crowds came out for the Opposition parties in Bihar last month.

The writing on the wall may be telling the ‘world’s largest party’ a story they do not like reading. Having led from the front and mobilised ‘chhoti jatis’ to keep them under the BJP umbrella for at least a decade, caste-based political rallies have suddenly been banned in UP.

Umar Khalid’s ‘Muslimness‘ and Wangchuk’s Ladakhi identity may explain the BJP’s initial unease with public protest, but the fact that its own leaders now cite the ‘Nepal model’ and express fears of ‘Gen Z’ betrays a graver, underlying fear. This is the fear of losing the advantage of being the only party which can bring spontaneous and large crowds on the streets, whether in or out of power.

Union home minister Amit Shah has reportedly started an enquiry “to prevent mass agitations by vested interests.” For this, he has asked the Bureau of Police Research & Development to study all post-independence protests in India. These “agitations” are movements that defined and enriched independent India’s democracy. Lessons from these are salutary for its people and leaders – not the police – to ensure that Indian democracy survives in the future.

This piece was first published on The India Cable – a premium newsletter from The Wire – and has been updated and republished here. To subscribe to The India Cable, click here.

The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.