It is not long since the NEET paper leak, a legal luminary's 'cockroach' criticism and a US-based youngster's satirical response all came together to force Prime Minister Narendra Modi onto Instagram and Dharmendra Pradhan to step out of his Cabinet. Now, Modi's close buddy, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, with whom he shares a much publicised political camaraderie, is facing issues due to increasing unpopularity among young voters.

A Reuters report, quoting opinion polls says this trend could prove costly for Meloni ahead of a national election due next year.

Since taking office in 2022, Meloni has done little on the economic front to increase opportunities for the young, analysts say, while passing a raft of law-and-order measures that often disproportionately affect them.

The result is a disaffection among 18- to 34-year-olds that may be crucial at a 2027 election shaping up as a neck-and-neck race between her rightist coalition and the centre-left opposition.

"Younger voters are clearly leaning towards the centre-left," Lorenzo Pregliasco, head of the Youtrend polling agency, told Reuters.

Meloni's coalition, comprising her Brothers of Italy Party (FDI), Matteo Salvini's League and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani's more moderate Forza Italia, now commands less than 30% of voting support among under-35s, Pregliasco said.

That compares with almost 50% in the same age group for the opposition bloc dominated by the Democratic Party (PD), the 5-Star Movement and the Left-Green Alliance (AVS).

At the peak of Meloni's popularity in 2023, Youtrend polling showed her party alone attracted roughly the same support among young people as the whole ruling coalition does now.

The sharpest party divides showed support for Meloni's FDI at 15% among 18- to 29-year-old men and just 4.2% among women, while 5-Star was backed by 18% of women under 30, and just 5.1% of men.

Lack of reforms to boost youth opportunities

Lorenzo De Sio, political science professor at Rome's Luiss University, told Reuters the main reason for young people's hostility towards the government was its inertia on economic policy.

"Meloni has made no significant economic reforms," he said.

"That is fine if you benefit from the status quo, but very bad for those least protected by it, which often means young people."

Meloni's office declined to answer questions from Reuters.

Italy's employment rate among 15- to 24-year-olds is the lowest in the 21-nation euro zone, Eurostat data shows, and it invests less in education than almost all its partners in the bloc.

The government's approval rating among under-35 voters is just 25% compared with 35% among the overall population, Youtrend data shows.

Law and order crackdowns

The government's security measures have affected a range of groups from prisoners to migrants, but young people have often found themselves in the eye of the storm.

After cracking down on rave parties in Meloni's first law decree four years ago, subsequent government steps have targeted production of so-called "light" cannabis, disruptive street protests, squatters, and juvenile crime.

A nationwide student protest dubbed 'No Meloni Day' in November last year saw thousands march against the security decrees, education spending cuts and Meloni's support for Israel in Gaza.

Meloni's failure to attract the young has often been masked by voter apathy. Turnout in Italy is normally low among under-35s, who rather than express their dissatisfaction by voting against the government have simply opted not to vote.

However, this trend reversed abruptly at a referendum in March on a reform of the justice system championed by Meloni.

Some 67% of under-35s cast a ballot, with 60% of them rejecting the reform, compared with an overall turnout of 59% of whom 54% voted 'no'.

Sensing trouble, days before the crucial referendum Meloni had joined an irreverent podcast hosted ​by a popular rapper in a bid to reach younger voters.

"The referendum showed what impact the young can have if they vote en masse," De Sio said. "At the next election they could be decisive."

In India, Modi is already trying to woo back Gen Z by getting onto Instagram, while his party is going all out for damage control after the Cockroach Janta Party's protest rattled the NDA. Meloni, meanwhile, may be discovering that her country's young electorate can turn into a decisive one rather quickly.