BJP national president Nitin Nabin’s brainstorming session on Saturday (August 29, 2026) on the party’s engagement with the Gen Z included suggestions to abandon the term altogether and simply refer to the cohort as the “youth”, as well as initiating a simultaneous outreach to the party’s older voters.

The meeting in New Delhi, under a youth outreach initiative headed by Mr. Nabin, was attended by around 45 young leaders with party general secretary Smriti Irani and Chattisgarh Minister O.P. Choudhary as Committee members.

According to sources, participants were invited to share their views on how the party could improve dialogue and participation among young people.

Several attendees argued that it would be incorrect to treat all young people as a homogenous, single category, stressing that different groups of youth have distinct aspirations and concerns.

Sources said some participants suggested avoiding the term “Gen Z” and instead using the broader term “youth” or references to specific age groups.

The “horizontal solidarity” among the age cohort witnessed during the recent Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) led protests over the NEET exam paper ‘leak’ was one thing, said an attendee, but that did not mean that all young people shared the same life experiences or even aspirations. “Young people in tier two cities and villages will have different ideas about life, their opportunities and what they think on various issues,” they said, advocating for a graded engagement with different kinds of youngsters.

A number of participants underlined the need for differentiated engagement strategies and communication methods for various categories of young people.

One participant noted that while greater engagement with the youth is essential, the party must take care that older supporters and long-time party backers do not feel neglected or sidelined. Another suggested that energising the party’s veteran workers is just as important as expanding outreach among youth, and that efforts should also be made to strengthen cadres’ confidence in the leadership.

The 45 participants in the meeting have reportedly been divided into five or six groups. Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi and Chhattisgarh’s O.P. Choudhary are among those tasked with leading the groups. Participants have been asked to send their suggestions to their respective team leaders, who will compile them for further consideration.

All participants have been asked to submit their recommendations within the next seven to eight days, and preferably before September 10, so that the suggestions can be consolidated.

According to sources, the recommendations gathered from these 45 leaders will be considered for implementation in future party programmes. Preparations are also underway for youth-focused activities during the “Seva Sankalp Mahotsav”, which will mark 25 years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s public service journey from 17 September.

The meeting was attended by Union Ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw, Mansukh Mandaviya and Jyotiraditya Scindia, as well as Ministers of State Kamlesh Paswan and Raksha Khadse.

Cockroach Janta Party protests continued at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, on July 24, 2026. Amidst the sea of people and the bustling dissent, there is one group that is quietly doing only one task. Service. 

The doctors told The Hindu that everything in the camp has been set up through donations, including the medicines and even the tent itself.

“There are people here who had flown in from Milan. I have flown in from Chennai. He has flown in from Kerala. People have come here from the UK, Australia, Finland. We are here to show that we are here when it matters for our country,” says Dr F, 27 years old, from Chennai.

“The whole point of this organized, peaceful protest is, first accountability. Second, why is the modi government hell bent on privatizing everything,” Dr S., 36, who had worked in the Lakhimpur Kheri farm protests in 2021.

Soon they were back to work. The healing continued.

Catch glimpses of how the mechanics of healing at a protest work.

‘If you are alive, then believe in life’s win’, reads a poster at Jantar Mantar Medical Camp, New Delhi.

Photo:
Akul Baiju

Medicines at the medical camp in Jantar Mantar(July 24, 2026)

Photo:
Akul Baiju

Hand being healed at the medical camp. (July 24, 2026)

Photo:
Akul Baiju

Protester being given medicines at the medical camp. (July 24, 2026)

Photo:
Akul Baiju

‘Injured foot being healed at Jantar Mantar protest site medical camp. (July 24, 2026)

Photo:
Akul Baiju

Medicines at the medical camp, Jantar Mantar Protest site. (July 24, 2026.)

Photo:
Akul Baiju

A volunteer doctor giving tissues to the passing protesters. Jantar Mantar protest site, New Delhi. (July 24, 2026)

Photo:
Akul Baiju

Medical camp at Jantar Mantar protest site during the CJP protest. (July 24, 2026)

Accusing Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi of holding Parliament to ransom, Capt. Brijesh Chowta, MP for Dakshina Kannada, said on Thursday that it amounted to deliberate obstruction at the cost of the people who elected Members of Parliament.

In a post on X, Capt. Chowta said: “Protest is constitutional. Dissent and debate are constitutional. Deliberately disrupting Parliament is not.”

The MP said the Union government had repeatedly expressed its readiness to debate the NEET-UG paper leak on the floor of the House. The government had also urged the Opposition, time and again, to participate in the discussion. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had assured fast-track courts and swift, stringent punishment for those behind paper leaks. The Prime Minister had also made it clear that those who play with the future of the youth would not be spared.

“Yet Rahul Gandhi continues to hold Parliament to ransom instead of joining the debate. As Members of Parliament, we owe it to our constituents, our democracy, and the institution of Parliament to attend the House, raise issues, debate them vigorously and ensure its functioning. That is our constitutional responsibility. What the Rahul Gandhi-led Opposition is doing is not responsible opposition. It is deliberate obstruction at the cost of the people who elected us to serve,” Capt. Chowta posted on X.

Lok Sabha proceedings were disrupted on the first day of the Monsoon Session of Parliament on Monday (July 20, 2026) as Opposition parties raised various issues, primarily the alleged NEET paper leak and Ram temple donation theft.

The disruption over the NEET issue came amid attempts by protesters, led by Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), to break barricades to march to Parliament, demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the alleged paper leak and CBSE exam irregularities.

The House was adjourned six times since it met in the morning, and was later adjourned for the day at 3 p.m. The only business transacted was the introduction of a Bill by Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal to replace an Ordinance which increased the number of Supreme Court judges from 34 to 38.

The changed political alignments following the recent Assembly polls were also visible during the proceedings.

As soon as the Lok Sabha assembled, Opposition MPs raised slogans, with Congress, Samajwadi Party and Trinamool Congress members protesting over alleged NEET paper leaks and the donation embezzlement at Ram Temple in Ayodhya. However, the TMC MPs who trooped into the Well of the House did not include the 20 rebel MPs who now claim to be a part of the National Citizenship Party of India (NCPI).

DMK-Cong. split evident

Also, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), which parted ways with the Congress after the latter broke off their alliance, allying with the newly elected TVK government in Tamil Nadu, also entered the Well, but its members raised slogans over the Karnataka government’s proposal to build a dam at Mekedatu across the Cauvery river rather than the issues flagged by the Congress.

The split between the Congress and the DMK appeared clear inside the Lok Sabha, although DMK MP T. R. Baalu continued to occupy his earlier seat next to Congress MP K. C. Venugopal, with Speaker Om Birla yet to approve the party’s request for separate seating.

The DMK from the INDIA bloc was evident since the morning, as it skipped the customary strategy meeting of Opposition parties convened by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge at his Parliament office.

Sources told The Hindu that DMK supremo M. K. Stalin, during a Zoom meeting, made it clear that the party’s Lok Sabha members shouldn’t associate themselves with issues raised by the Congress on the floor of the House.

Repeated adjournments

Mr. Birla, who began the proceedings with obituary references to six former MPs, first adjourned the House till noon as Opposition members raised slogans during the Question Hour. He objected to two members raising slogans during the references, saying it was not a good precedent.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the House could not function if disruptions continued.

Subsequently, the House was repeatedly adjourned before being adjourned for the day at 3 p.m.

Earlier, at 2 p.m., BJP MP Jagdambika Pal, who was officiating as the Speaker, said there was adequate quorum to conduct business, but some Opposition MPs alleged they were being prevented from entering the House.