Margao: Goa Forward Party (GFP) president Vijai Sardesai on Sunday said the rise of Gen Z had reshaped politics and could no longer be ignored, as the party announced a statewide yatra to engage with people across Goa ahead of the Assembly elections.
“Gen Z has woken and shown that when we ignore them they explode and they fight with victory in the end. Without creating politics, this age group came together and forced the biggest party in the country to bend,” Sardesai told reporters.
Stating that almost 50 percent of the voting population belongs to this generation, he said GFP gave Gen Z representation on their committee much before the NEET issue.
“We have understood their issues with solutions of how we can work. We have discussed how to keep this Gen Z movement forward in Goa,” said Sardesai.
Sardesai said the party would also focus on women, youth, tribal and minority communities through the yatra, which will cover every constituency from Pernem to Canacona.
The announcements followed a nearly three-hour meeting of the GFP state executive committee. According to party leaders, about two hours of the meeting were devoted to discussing the significance of the recent nationwide Gen Z movement.
Sardesai also said the GFP supported UTAA’s demand for political reservation for the Scheduled Tribe community and would stand with the organisation in seeking the rights due to it.
On his meeting with Goa Congress president Girish Chodankar on Saturday regarding a possible pre-poll alliance, Sardesai said discussions had only begun and the GFP would not wait for a decision before starting its campaign.