‘Ask me anything’: Rahul Gandhi turns to Instagram to engage Gen Z

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on August 6 launched an "Ask Me Anything" session on Instagram, inviting students and Gen Z users to engage with him directly on the social media platform.

Sharing the initiative on X, Gandhi encouraged young people to submit their questions through Instagram Stories, saying he would respond to as many as possible.

"Students, Gen-Z — I'm here to listen. Ask me anything on Instagram, and I'll answer as many questions as I can," Gandhi wrote.

The online outreach comes a day after the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha met a group of students who had staged protests last month demanding the resignation of then education minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the paper leak issue. The students had also alleged police excesses during a protest on 20 July.

Following the meeting, Gandhi accused Union Home Minister Amit Shah of being responsible for the alleged violence against the protesters. He also claimed Shah "does not have the courage to explain in Parliament what happened with the students".

Gandhi has, in recent weeks, been sharing videos and excerpts from his interactions with students and parents on Instagram, signalling an increased focus on youth engagement through digital platforms.

His latest social media initiative comes as political parties intensify their online outreach to younger audiences. The BJP has also stepped up its digital engagement following the NEET-UG paper leak controversy, with Instagram increasingly becoming a key platform for political messaging, used by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union ministers and party leaders.