Rajasthan local body polls: Congress launches ‘Gen Z for Change’ campaign | India News

The Opposition Congress on Tuesday launched the “Gen Z for Change” campaign and constituted a state-level Professional Gen Z Committee ahead of this month’s municipal and panchayat elections in Rajasthan as part of an attempt to move beyond traditional politics and connect with digitally active younger voters.The move comes weeks after student protests over examination irregularities forced the then Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan to resign in July. In Jharkhand, job aspirants and student unions, agitating against alleged irregularities in recruitment exams for nearly a month, announced a 60-day suspension of their sit-in after the state government conceded to almost all of their key demandsCongress leaders said the Rajasthan campaign would focus on employment, education, skill development, artificial intelligence and career opportunities instead of being restricted to electoral mobilisation. Sumit Bhagasara, the Rajasthan Congress’s Social Media and Digital Platforms Department head, said Gen Z is better placed to understand its generation’s aspirations and concerns. “The Professional Gen Z Committee has been constituted with this objective,” he said.The party plans to take the initiative beyond digital platforms. It will reach out to students on college and university campuses. District-level Gen Z committees will be formed to interact with students and convey their concerns to the state leadership.The Congress plans to organise free workshops on artificial intelligence, skill-development programmes, career counselling sessions and internship opportunities. It will focus on digital empowerment and offer legal assistance to content creators, party leaders said.Employment, access to opportunities and preparedness for a digital future have emerged as important concerns among young voters. Through the campaign, Congress hopes to strengthen its engagement with this constituency and offer an alternative political narrative.A report documenting the concerns and suggestions of Rajasthan’s Gen Z population will be prepared after the municipal and panchayat polls and submitted to former party chief Rahul Gandhi and Rajasthan Congress leadership to bring the issues raised to the national level.Rajasthan, where power has alternated between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress every five years since 1993, is due to go to the assembly polls in 2028. Elections to all 309 urban local bodies in Rajasthan will be held in two phases on September 9 and 11.