New Delhi, July 28 — The Congress said on Tuesday that the Gen Z that took part in the recent students' protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi is upset with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) due to police excesses and have "rejected Prime Minister Modi's friend request".
Pawan Khera, Congress MP and Media and AICC Publicity Department Chairman, said that Gen Z has rejected the mentality of BJP leaders who supported the use of force on student protesters and described the young generation as 'ill-mannered'.
Khera added that the BJP leaders can't digest the fact that women and girl protesters questioned the top leader of the country.
He said that the BJP's same regressive mentality is also reflected in the use of pellet guns and AK-47s on protesting students.
He claimed Kerala activist T.G. Mohandas had supported use of force against protestors and BJP MP Kangana Ranaut had targeted women and girls by questioning their participation in the students' protest.
"The Gen Z is the generation that was born in the global recession, fought the pandemic and is staring at bleak future due to frequent paper leaks," Khera added.
He said that if BJP leaders can't support or empathise with Gen Z they should at least not pass comments that hurt them.
In an indirect reference to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's video message for the Gen Z during the student protest, Khera said, "Dear Prime Minster, this generation has swiped left and rejected, deleted your friend request."
Khera's video message assailing BJP leaders for allegedly hurting the sentiments of Gen Z came on a day when the Parliament began a debate on the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026, in the Lok Sabha.
During the debate, Congress MP from Wayanad Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also referred to PM Modi's video message, saying there is a need for the Prime Minister to change the 'angle of heart' and not the 'angle of a phone camera' for a social media video to win Gen Z's hearts.
She criticised the use of pellet guns and AK-47 at protesting students and said, "You can remove protesters from the road but cannot ignore the questions being raised by them."