Hyderabad, Aug. 26 -- Telangana Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president N Ramchander Rao has rejected the term "Gen Z," calling it a construct pushed by "Urban Naxals and ultra-leftists" rather than a genuine generational identity.

In a video statement made before his hunger strike over pending student fee reimbursements, which began on Monday, August 24, Rao said, "There is no word called Gen Z. There is no community called Gen Z. It is a creation of Urban Naxals and ultra-leftists. There is only Yuva (youth) and Yuva Bharath."

The remark is the latest in a series of comments Rao has made this year targeting how India's youth is described and mobilised. In June, he accused the newly formed Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) of being an "urban...