The voting age should be reduced from the current 18 years to 16 years, CPI(ML) Liberation General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya said on Tuesday (August 4, 2026).

His remarks came against the backdrop of reports that RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat would address around 2,000 students aged between 15 and 19 from 100 cities at Mumbai’s Nita Mukesh Ambani Centre on Thursday (August 6, 2026).

Calling the event a “desperate” attempt to reach out to Gen Z, Mr. Bhattacharya said its scale was “impressive” but questioned its purpose, more so considering the “apologies being forced out of students”. “Modi has already talked about ‘culture shock’, invoking patriarchal prejudices against India’s ‘misled daughters’. The orchestrated backlash, both online and offline, is forcing 15-year-olds to offer apology videos,” he said.

He further alleged that BJP leader Ramesh Bidhuri had called the Jantar Mantar protesters “puncture menders”, BJP MP Kangana Ranaut referred to Gen Z as “Generation Gutter”, former Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had described protesters as “terrorists”, and RSS Joint General Secretary Atul Limaye termed the protests “anti-constitutional” and “anti-national”.

“If the RSS really wants to listen to India’s Gen Z, let them first ask the Sangh Parivar to stop issuing rape and death threats to 15-year-olds,” Mr. Bhattacharya said.

Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Bhattacharya said if the government and the RSS were indeed keen to listen to Gen Z, then they should allow its members to make their voices hear through the ballot “It is the natural corollary to the widespread protests that we saw,” he said, adding, "The usual criticism that 16-year-olds are not politically aware does not stand up to scrutiny, considering the average age of the protesters who had turned up.”

Published - August 04, 2026 08:08 pm IST