Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Instagram Reels Miss the Mark with Indian Gen Z

Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted a selfie‑video Reel on Instagram that quickly amassed over 300 million views, but the platform’s youth turned it into a meme, highlighting the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) struggle to connect with Gen Z. The clip was intended to address protests led by the “Cockroach Janata Party” movement demanding the resignation of education minister Dharmendra Pradhan over exam glitches, yet its slow speech, awkward framing and lack of visual hook alienated the audience.

A follow‑up Reel used National Handloom Day to urge users to create “Get Ready With Me” videos, but commentators note the BJP’s long‑standing dominance on text‑first platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook and X does not translate to Instagram’s visual culture. The party’s IT cell is now scrambling to adopt a “cooler” tone, but many young Indians view the effort as contrived and cringe‑worthy, underscoring a broader disconnect between the ruling party and India’s digital‑native voters.