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Chirag Paswan reached out to youth in Prayagraj.
Union Minister and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) National President Chirag Paswan interacted with youth in Prayagraj through the “Youth Bole To” program. In this program held at Parade Ground, discussions were held on education, employment, startups and other issues related to youth. The party described it as a platform for direct communication with the youth.
Chirag Paswan appealed to the youth to become job providers instead of job seekers. He also stressed the need to increase youth participation in startups and politics, and raised the need for a national youth commission.
Chirag’s Prayagraj programme also came into the news because about a month and a half ago, Rahul Gandhi had also organised the ‘Chhatraon Ki Goonj’ programme among the youth and students in the same city. The focus of both the programmes was on youth and students, although both the leaders interacted with the youth with different political messages and issues.
Rahul Gandhi’s “Students’ Echo” raised issues of paper leaks and employment.
On August 8, Rahul Gandhi interacted with youth and students preparing for competitive exams at the “Students’ Echo” event in Prayagraj. Issues such as paper leaks, pending recruitment processes, and education-related concerns took center stage. Congress had made preparations to connect a large number of youth with the program.
The focus of Rahul Gandhi’s program was on the problems of students and issues related to employment. It was presented by Congress as an initiative to give a political platform to the voice of the youth.
After this, Chirag Paswan’s ‘Youth Bole To’ program was held in September. Here too, youth were made the centre of direct communication, but Chirag laid more emphasis on topics like employment, entrepreneurship, startups and youth leadership.
Programs featured direct dialogue with youth, while the focus on issues differed.
One commonality between the two programs in Prayagraj was that the leaders chose to engage directly with the youth. In Rahul Gandhi’s programme, issues related to students and competitive examinations were discussed, whereas in Chirag Paswan’s programme, issues of employment and youth leadership were raised.
Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Chhatraon Ki Goonj’ was presented by the Congress as a platform to bring forward the questions of the students. Meanwhile, LJP (Ram Vilas) organised ‘Youth Bole To’ as a programme to interact with the youth and understand their problems.
Thus, the platform and objective of both the events appear to be similar in terms of communication with the youth, but there was a difference in the political message and the issues raised in the programmes.
Chirag Paswan emphasised entrepreneurship and youth leadership beyond employment.
Chirag Paswan urged the youth in Prayagraj to think about becoming job creators, not just job seekers. He talked about joining startups and moving forward with new thinking.
He also said that more youth from different fields should come into politics. According to him, if doctors, engineers and people from other professions come into politics, different perspectives on public problems will emerge.
Chirag also talked about the need for a youth commission for Uttar Pradesh. This expanded the focus of the programme from just electoral politics to issues like employment, entrepreneurship and institutional participation of youth.
Why did Prayagraj become an important platform for youth dialogue?
Prayagraj has been a major centre for students and youth preparing for competitive examinations for a long time. In such a situation, issues related to employment, recruitment examinations, education and future have been an important part of the political dialogue here.
In this background, Rahul Gandhi had communicated with the youth through ‘Chhatraon Ki Goonj’ in August. Before the programme, Congress had prominently raised issues like paper leak and pending recruitments.
In Chirag Paswan’s program in September, direct interaction was also held with the youth of Prayagraj. The party also used it as a platform to further its activities and youth outreach in Uttar Pradesh.
Political emphasis on youth outreach increases ahead of 2027
Ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, various political parties are organizing programs to reach out to youth and students. Chirag Paswan’s Prayagraj programme has also been linked by LJP (Ram Vilas) to the expansion of its political activities in the state.
However, it would not be right to consider the youth participating in any program as directly supporters or potential voters of any party. The political choices of young voters depend on different issues and personal preferences.
Nevertheless, these continuous events in Prayagraj definitely show that issues like education, employment, recruitment, startups and youth leadership are gaining important space in the public discourse of political parties.
Prayagraj becomes a political platform in the race to communicate with Gen-Z
Rahul Gandhi’s “Students’ Echo” and Chirag Paswan’s “Youth Bole To” programs have, at different times, placed youth at the center of political discourse in Prayagraj. In both the events, the leaders interacted directly with the youth, but there was a difference in the issues raised by them and the political messages.
While Congress highlighted issues related to paper leak, recruitment and education before the students, Chirag Paswan raised issues like employment, startups, youth leadership and youth commission. For this reason, viewing both programs as a single political strategy would not reveal the full picture.
Now, how these issues related to youth are taken forward in the politics of Uttar Pradesh and in which direction different parties take their programmes, it will be a matter to be seen in the upcoming political campaign.
