Gen Z slang takes centre stage during Lok Sabha debate on paper leak Bill

Gen Z slang featured prominently during the Lok Sabha debate on the anti-paper leak amendment Bill, with NDA MPs using terms like MIA, FOMO and delulu to target the Opposition. Opposition leaders criticised the government over NEET paper leak concerns and education reforms

New Delhi: Gen Z lingo found an unlikely place in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, with many MPs from the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) using popular expressions during a debate on the anti-paper leak amendment Bill.

Targeting the Opposition, Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Lata Eknath Shinde invoked Gen Z terms to mock its July 20 sit-in protest outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence.

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“I would like to sum up the Opposition’s protest in Gen Z language. They were MIA (missing in action) for the first 37 days and did not go to Jantar Mantar. Then came FOMO (fear of missing out), so they held a protest outside the Prime Minister’s residence. Finally, they became ‘delulu’ (delusional), believing the protesting students would join them, but no one did,” he said.

BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj, the daughter of the late BJP stalwart Sushma Swaraj, representing the New Delhi constituency, also used the popular Gen Z term, ‘clock it’ meaning noticing or calling something out, to attack the Congress party.

“Where Congress created a policy vacuum, Modi clocked it, if I may borrow the language of Gen Z, and created a solution. All the Opposition did was chase political opportunism.”

BJP MP Tejasvi Surya described the Opposition as “delulu” for believing that youth are backing it.

“I want to tell the Opposition that because of this issue (NEET paper leak), the Opposition thinks that youth are with them, but there is no bigger delulu than this,” he said.

“Youths across the country are watching us and this debate in Parliament and wondering what will come out of this discussion. That common youth who is watching this House from home is not concerned with this ‘tu-tu main-main’,” he said.

“He is not concerned about what happened in this government, what happened in the past, or who was ruling in the states. They don’t care about this,” he added.

“The student who is preparing for the next examination is more concerned about who is going to fix the system for the future, and he knows this government under PM Modi’s leadership is trying to fix the system once and for all for the better of his future,” Surya said.

He further said, “And as they say in Gen Z language, you need to fix the source code to fix the system, and that can be done with root and branch reform in our education system.”

From the Opposition, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi led the attack, saying that if Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to “win over the Gen Z, then videos changing camera angles will not help. The Prime Minister needs to change the angle of his heart, not the angle of cameras”.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, on the other hand, invoked a slogan, ‘Jhukane Wala Chahiye, Sarkar Bhi Jhukti Hai’, chanted by the protesting students, and slammed the government’s alleged “arrogance” in dealing with the issue.

NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule, however, asked the parliamentarians to stick to discussing the NEET paper leak issue instead of using Gen Z phrases during the debate.

“Why are we getting into the lingo of Gen Z? This debate is not about the Oxford online dictionary as to who knows how many words. We are here for a very serious issue,” Sule said.

Ending a week-long logjam, the Lok Sabha on Tuesday began a discussion on the anti-paper leak amendment Bill, with Union Minister Jitendra Singh describing it as a reaffirmation of the government’s commitment to safeguard the welfare of students and the youth.

Speaking on the Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026, the minister said the Modi government finished an unaccomplished task of bringing a law to prevent examination malpractices in 2024.

The discussion on the amendment Bill follows the nationwide protests launched by the Cockroach Janata Party over the NEET paper leak and demanding reforms in the education sector.

The 36-day-long protest ended on July 25 after Dharmendra Pradhan tendered his resignation as the Union Education Minister.