New Delhi

Dismissing the opposition's allegations that the government was "anti-youth", Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Friday said youth are the future of the country and will play a key role in making India a developed nation.

This comes a day after RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat came out strongly in support of Gen Z, saying their grievances are genuine and that protests by them do not make them "anti-national".

Talking to reporters here after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Shinde also said the PM has always given importance to the youth but the opposition was not ready to discuss issues in Parliament.

Shinde, who heads key NDA ally Shiv Sena, said the six newly inducted MPs of his party were invited by Modi for tea and expressed confidence that the interaction would help boost development works in their constituencies.

He said he met the prime minister and discussed issues related rain and Maharashtra's development in general.

"We discussed the development work to be undertaken in their respective constituencies. This will benefit both the state government and the Centre, and our MPs will get support for development," Shinde said.

On RSS chief Bhagwat's remarks during an interaction with a gathering of youth in Mumbai on Thursday, Shinde said young people are the future of the country and will play a key role in achieving the goal of a "Viksit Bharat" by 2047.

"We are also seeing Prime Minister Modi's direct interaction with young people and that is a good thing," he said.

"PM Modi has always given importance to the youth. Whether it is education, startups or skill development, he has done a lot of work for the youth," Shinde said.

Bhagwat's interaction is being seen as the RSS' most significant outreach to Gen Z (born roughly 1997-2012) and Gen Alpha (2013-2025) since the Cockroach Janta Party's (CJP) protests over NEET paper leak culminated in Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation last month.

On the Opposition's allegations that the government was "anti-youth", Shinde said Parliament was in session and all issues should be discussed there.

"First, they demanded the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan, and he resigned. The young people who were part of the agitation have now returned to their respective work. But the Opposition, despite Parliament being in session, is not ready for a discussion," he said.

"The government is ready to discuss the issue. The government stands with the youth, and it was out of respect and regard for the youth that Dharmendra Pradhan resigned," Shinde said.

But they only want to do politics in the name of the youth and use them to serve their own political interests, which is very unfortunate, he said.

READ MORE: Kanwar pilgrimage showcases Indian peoples' intrinsic unity

"Everyone should work together to take the country forward and raise their issues in Parliament. They are avoiding discussion and only indulging in politics. This is not right," Shinde added.