India’s political landscape this week is in motion not merely because of the Bihar elections, but because of a generational undercurrent reshaping politics itself. With 74 million voters participating in the first phase of Bihar’s polls, the contest has been described as a referendum on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity. Yet beneath that headline lies a quieter but more profound story: the awakening of India’s Gen Z electorate – impatient, connected, and increasingly decisive.
Across continents, a parallel narrative is unfolding. In New York, Zohran Mamdani , a 33-year-old of Indian-Ugandan heritage has become the city’s new mayor after a campaign powered by young voters, digital energy, and a message of participatory hope. His victory, though geographically distant, speaks to a shared generational vocabulary one that India’s leaders, both national and regional, can no longer afford to ignore.
Bihar: The Youth Belt of a New India
Bihar’s 2025 elections are being watched for their arithmetic – caste, coalitions, and Nitish Kumar’s perennial balancing act, but the real equation may lie in its demography. More than half of Bihar’s electorate is under 40. That means roughly 38 million voters in this election belong to Gen Z and young millennials, a population larger than Canada’s entire citizenry.
They are not bound by nostalgia or old loyalties. Many are first-time voters who have seen more smartphones than school libraries, more migration than stability. They scroll through reels faster than they read manifestos, and they respond not to caste appeals or party symbols but to narratives of employment, education, and dignity.
This generation has grown up watching their parents leave home for work in Delhi, Surat, or Dubai. Their political imagination is borderless, influenced as much by Instagram activism as by the ideals of Ambedkar or Lohia. Their anxiety is not about ideology, it is about opportunity. When unemployment in Bihar touches double digits, the ballot becomes a protest form.
The NDA’s campaign has leaned on central welfare schemes and Modi’s personal credibility. The opposition’s counter-pitch, led by Tejashwi Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal, is youth-centric promising government jobs, digital innovation, and skill-linked education. Yet neither side seems to have fully internalised how differently this generation engages with politics. Rallies don’t trend short videos do. Slogans don’t mobilise memes do. Bihar 2025 may well mark the moment when the battle for WhatsApp forwards gives way to the battle for YouTube Shorts.
The Zohran Mamdani Parallel
Enter Zohran Mamdani. His stunning win in New York’s mayoral race this week has become a case study in generational mobilisation. Mamdani’s campaign did not rely on big donors or traditional party hierarchies. Instead, it drew power from thousands of young volunteers who clubbed together literally. His “campaign nights” blended policy discussions with DJ sets and food stalls. The message: politics is not an elite theatre, it’s a public commons.
Mamdani’s strategy was unapologetically digital. Livestreams replaced press conferences. Voter drives became social-media challenges. His team tapped into Gen Z’s grammar of politics authenticity, immediacy, community. The result? He transformed youth cynicism into civic action.
That same impulse is visible albeit in embryonic form in parts of India. Independent candidates in Bihar, student-driven campaigns in Kerala and Delhi, and civic-tech collectives across campuses are trying to re-engineer engagement. For a generation alienated by dynastic politics, these movements offer a sense of agency. Mamdani’s victory may thus become a mirror showing young Indians what is possible when disaffection turns to mobilisation.
The Great Generational Recalibration
Politics this week, then, is not just about who wins Bihar. It is about who defines Indian democracy in the decade ahead. The traditional voter pyramid rural, deferential, caste-aligned is giving way to a more fluid digital citizenry. Gen Z voters are less likely to vote “as a community” and more likely to vote “as an individual.” They evaluate policies in real time, fact-check claims online, and expect transparency.
Yet, they also inhabit an ecosystem rife with disinformation and echo chambers. Their trust in institutions is lower, but their willingness to act is higher. This paradox will test India’s political class can they speak in a language that is both aspirational and authentic?
Parties that fail to evolve may find themselves outflanked not by rivals but by irrelevance. Bihar’s results, expected later this month, will offer the first empirical clue: whether the youth bulge merely swells turnout, or truly shifts outcomes.
Beyond Bihar: A Generational Bellwether
The electoral winds in Bihar echo a broader Global South phenomenon from Kenya to Indonesia to Brazil, where young, digitally networked voters are redefining representation. They are sceptical of authority but open to ideas; global in exposure but local in concern. Mamdani’s New York, Tejashwi’s Bihar, and any future youth-led movement in India are part of the same tectonic drift: the decentralisation of political power through generational change.
In a world where climate anxiety, job insecurity, and identity politics intersect, Gen Z is not waiting to inherit politics; it is demanding to own it. That ownership will come not through ideology, but through interactivity, through participatory governance, policy transparency, and digital accountability.
The Week Ahead
As ballots are cast in Bihar and analysts parse early trends, the real story may not be written in party offices but on smartphones. If youth turnout rises, if new digital influencers emerge as political voices, and if traditional parties begin to mimic the organic energy of Mamdani’s movement, then this week could mark a hinge moment for Indian democracy.
For now, politics this week is young restless, wired, and impatient for relevance. The question is whether India’s political elders are listening.
– Dr. Shahid Siddiqui | Follow on X @shahidsiddiqui
