KERALAM Chief Minister V D Satheesan has urged the Central government to engage with Gen Z and give it hope, saying that the country’s youth are “depressed” and “worried” for several reasons, including the changing nature of jobs and a perceived lack of opportunities.His remarks come at a time when the ruling BJP has claimed a “foreign hand” behind the protests over the last few months, including the recent ones against the Chief Election Commissioner demanding bringing back all eligible voters into the electoral rolls.These protests come close on the heels of the youth-led agitation against the NEET paper leaks in June-July. Congress, Satheesan’s party, has taken the political lead in the Opposition’s campaign against CEC Gyanesh Kumar and the Special Intensive Revision of the electoral rolls.In a conversation with Vandita Mishra and Liz Mathew at Express Adda in New Delhi on Friday, the Keralam chief minister said a sentiment of anti-incumbency is developing against the BJP government at the Centre and that his party will have to convert the mood into votes.A first-time chief minister who took over the reins of the state government earlier this year, Satheesan signalled that while his ideological opposition to the BJP will remain, he will not be on a collision course with the Centre just for the sake of it.Asked about the BJP’s allegation of a “foreign hand” in recent protests, he said, “During my college days, we used to imitate a word. When Indira ji and other PMs were there, there was a word in Hindi ‘foreign hand’ in everything. What foreign hand. You have to interact with Gen Z. They are worried and depressed. They don’t have hope. We have to make hope.”Responding to a question on the paradox of the Congress joining hands with the Left in the Centre while fighting it in the state, Satheesan said, “They are part of the INDIA front and are agitating together for a cause… When former CM (Pinarayi) was arrested here, I inquired about him. Because it is the INDIA front agitation. It is natural.”Story continues below this adTo another question on All India Students’ Association national president Neha Bora getting a seat next to Rahul Gandhi and NSUI being ignored, he said, “This is not a single party agitation. All the coalition partners are part of it and political and apolitical platforms are there. When a leader is leading an agitation, he has to accommodate everybody.”“The agitations of the students. The Gen Z are worried. They are worried about many things… The nature of jobs is changing very fast because of new technology… Rate of unemployment is going up in India… they are not believing in the education system. The students are worried. It is organic and that is why it is happening everywhere… In Europe… In Kerala, there were protests. But not against us, but against the Central government and the ECI.”When asked why the Keralam government filed FIRs over protests in the state, Satheesan said: “The police usually does. Then, we asked to quash all FIRs.”He said there was no pressure on him from coalition partner Indian Union Muslim League in Keralam on his secular principles. “In the Assembly elections, we have taken an adamant secular stand. No compromise.” He said the IUML is not the same as it was in the 1940s, and that they are a different party with a “secular approach”. If IUML is weakened, its place will be taken by “extreme outfits”, he said.Story continues below this adOn how he dealt with the Narendra Modi-led Central government, Satheesan said: “I have not started the fight against the Centre. On the ideology side, we will fight against the BJP and the Sangh parivar. There will be no compromise on that. This is cooperative federalism as per the Constitution. We will try to get our due share. If they are discriminating against the state, then we will think about that.” The UDF coalition in Keralam “is a model coalition for the entire country”. “We acted like a single party,” he said.Asked about critics referring to him as the “Pinarayi Vijayan in Khadi”, the Chief Minister said, “Anyone can create such things. Social media is creating such things. You can damage any person or whitewash a person.”He said Keralam was facing a “fiscal crisis”. “Our committed expenditure is 80 per cent of the revenue because of salaries, pension, and interest. And there is more than Rs 5 lakh crore debt. We are facing a fiscal crisis… Taxes are limited because GST is decided by the GST Council. There was pressure on me to increase other taxes, but I never did that. I don’t think that an increase in tax is the solution. To stimulate the economy, first of all, the government has to spend… During Onam, Rs 4,000 crore for the poor and lower middle class people. Everyone asked me about it… I said this will create something among the market. This Onam season was different… Business increased. We got the largest GST share in the history of the state. This money will be circulated which is like magic.”Satheesan said he was not against delimitation since it is a Constitutional provision, but asked why was the BJP-led Central government increasing the number of seats across India. “Why are they increasing? Then, there will be some discrimination against some states.”