Out of protest and agitation, a new grammar of politics has been born. Two defining images capture this shift. On her visit to Delhi to join the INDIA rally at Ramlila Maidan, former Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, a street fighter for five decades, made it a point to meet Abhijit Dipke of the Cockroach Janta Party and applaud the Gen Z activists. During the Opposition protests, 29-year-old CPI(ML) leader Neha Bora strode out in front with Rahul Gandhi. India’s democracy has discovered the power of a young and impatient demographic that no party can afford to ignore.

Today, Gen Z — at least one in every four eligible voters will be aged 18-29 in 2029 — is helping shape the political conversation and even, as seen in Tamil Nadu, determining election outcomes. Chief Minister Vijay may have benefitted from his superstar appeal but his defining badge was his freshness, a leader who wasn’t weighed down by family legacy, divisive rhetoric or ideological dogmas.…