Published Aug 20, 2026 | 11:44 AM ⚊ Updated Aug 20, 2026 | 11:57 AM
The Union Cabinet meeting on August 19 that discussed the initiative of ‘One Day, One University’.
Is the Narendra Modi-led BJP government ‘trying too hard’ to win over the youth, especially Gen Z?
The question began doing the rounds after news of ‘One Day, One University’, a nationwide student outreach programme, began circulating on August 19.
The proposed initiative will see one Union Minister visiting a university in the country every day and interacting with the students to learn about their concerns, the Press Trust of India reported.
The Union Cabinet meeting on August 19 that discussed the initiative was said to have tasked the new Education Minister Pralhad Joshi and Youth Affairs Minister Mansukh Mandaviya with coordinating the programme involving various universities and other Union Ministers, according to sources.
During the visits, the ministers will hold discussions with the students on various issues affecting them and the country at large and also introduce and explain the schemes launched by the government targeting the youth, the report stated.
The exercise comes at a time when education and unemployment concerns are being voiced openly. But many in the party are said to be concerned about how this could play out and if it would see the BJP playing into the hands of the Congress, the Opposition and the Cockroach Janata Party.
A BJP leader, who did not wish to be named, said why the move could turn out to be a double-edged weapon that can wound the party either way.
“On record, it’s a bold and courageous move and sees the party top brass taking the bull by the horns at a time when the anxieties of the students have come to the fore and are threatening to spill over. The top brass are hoping to package it as a democratic interaction, a conversation that shows the willingness to engage with the problems at hand of a generation that the party needs on its side. It might seem to be rightly planned and designed at first glance,” he told South First.
But then the leader went on to explain why the attempt could backfire—and spectacularly.
He cited how the BJP has been largely relying on “one-way monologues” when it came to tackling major issues. But expecting students to be comforted by the “Mann ki baats” of the leaders won’t work in this instance, he stressed, before laying out how it could leave the party exposed on many flanks.
“As we all know, universities are student spaces, largely based on consensus. If a union minister is visiting a campus, he can’t expect to restrict himself to questions from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidya Parishad leaders or members, can he?
“What about the other unions and the strident voices and questions that can emerge from there? If inconvenient questions emerge, the visiting ministers responding to them can turn into a huge spectacle. The leaders of this regime will certainly like to avoid that. But what are the options before them? Will they send the police to curate the interactions by taking all troublesome leaders or students into custody beforehand? Or will they allow this scene to play out in campus after campus, exposing our ministers to multiple embarrassing questions?” he wondered.
“This drama could be enacted every day in location after location, providing fresh ammunition for the Cockroach Janata Party and the Opposition. These will make for content that will be damning for the party daily,” the leader went on, questioning the rationale the party planners had employed, particularly when the exam system was seeing so many failures and unemployment for fresh graduates was rife.
As South First had earlier reported, Azim Premji University’s State of Working India 2026 found that 40% of graduates who step out every year fail to find a job, and 20% remain unemployed even after they reach the 25-29 age group. The Congress claimed that 1.1 crore graduates aged 20–29 were unemployed in 2023, and that the figure is only rising as more and more students go to college.
Also Read:
In cold numbers: What brought the youth to Jantar Mantar and the streets of India
‘It’s the economy, stupid’: The making of India’s Gen Z discontent
