What's On Gen Z’s Mind About Politics? C-Voter Survey Reveals Majority Feel Political Parties Don't Understand Their Concerns, Social Media Key Factor Behind Voting Decisions

ONE THING HAS BECOME CONCRETE in the aftermath of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) led protest — the role of Gen Z in the status quo. Gen Zs are quick-witted, stubborn to a fault, and direct in what they want and need from their political leaders. The role this younger generation  — constituting about 35% of India’s total population (as per a 2026 India Today report) – will play in the imminent political scenario has become so evident that political parties such as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have shifted their communication strategy to better converse with the Gen Z and understand their preferences and concerns. 

In a bid to assess Gen Z and their political preferences, the Centre for Voting Opinions and Trends in Election Research, or C-Voter, conducted an online survey of over 1,270 participants aged between 18 and 35 and recorded their responses. The survey was conducted on August 8, 2026, via computer assisted telephone interviews. The participants were further segregated based upon political preferences of the responses, with three categories — supporters of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), supporters of the opposition, and others. These preferences were recorded based upon the recent-most election results.

It's important to note that the results of the survey have a margin of error of (±) 5% error, meaning that the actual results could vary by 5% in either negative or positive direction.

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Gen Z Feels Political Parties Don't Understand Their Concerns

The C-Voter survey pointed towards a disconnect between political parties and Gen Z. A clear majority of the participants — total 59% across all political preferences — think that political parties do not understand the concerns of Gen Z. Among NDA supporters, 54% held the view, while the percentage among opposition supporters was 64%, and in the “other” category it was 59%.

As for what the participants considered the most important electoral issue: employment, education, and healthcare emerged as the front-runner, amassing 53% of the total votes. Other issues, such as inflation and corruption, also emerged as less-significant electoral issues, trailing behind with 13.1% and  11.9% votes respectively.

Social Media and Gen Z

Gen Z, being the tech-savvy generation they are, obviously are extremely digitally active and use social media platforms a great deal. Called the “first true digital native generation,” over 98% of them use at least one social media platform daily as per a survey by the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM) — a leading research firm that focuses on consumer insights and behavioral research. Additionally, an overwhelming majority of the Gen Z prefer social media as their trusted source of news over traditional media platforms. So, it wouldn't be detrimental to surmise that Gen Z and their political opinions are affected by social media to some extent. And the C-Voter survey supports this as well. 

When asked “does social media play a major role in shaping your political opinion,” 49.3% of the participants responded “yes.” Even across different political preferences — supporters of NDA, the opposition, and other political fronts — social media emerged as the key influence on Gen Z’s voting behavior. 

Education Vs Caste Vs Age: Which Is More Important In Politicians As Per Gen Z?

Going by the results of the C-Voter survey, Gen Zs, across all political preferences, think of caste as an inconsequential factor while deciding upon political candidates. Education, however, emerged as the key factor: a total of 59.5% of the participants agreed that education plays a “very important role” while they're deciding which political candidate to vote for. A significant chunk of the participants, 19.2%, considered education to be a “somewhat important” factor while deciding who to vote for. 

When it comes to caste, 48.2% of the participants said that they would NOT prefer to vote for a political candidate who is from their own caste. Only a quarter of them said yes, and the rest weren’t sure. A clear majority — across all three political preferences — too responded that they wouldn’t prefer to vote for someone just because they are from the same caste. Among NDA supporters, when asked if they would prefer to vote for a candidate of their caste, 50.65% responded “no,” for opposition supporters the statistic was 44.6%, and for “others” it was 50.8%.

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One of the most significant takeaways from the C-Voter survey is this: Gen Z wants youth candidates and more younger representation in politics. Answering the question “If major political parties in India give election tickets to young candidates, would you vote for them,” an overwhelming majority of 75% of the total respondents said “yes.” 

This one statistic is crucial for political parties if they hope to understand Gen Z and their concerns — the younger generation wants to see more of themselves i.e. younger people, present in the political spectrum, as they may hold the opinion that it is the only the youth who truly understand their concerns and brings some change. Additionally, education is another such quality that Gen Z looks for in a prospective political candidate. Education is a reflection of what a person is and what they stand for, and relevant qualifications automatically paint a political candidate as “eligible” in the voters’ eyes.

(Edited by Harsh Pandey)

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