The neoliberal ideological path that we undertook since the 1990s has widened inequality by prescribing the withdrawal of the welfare state to make way for the markets. The wealth share of the top one per cent increased from 10-16 per cent in 1990 to 42.5 per cent in 2020, whereas the same for the bottom 50 per cent fell from 12.3 per cent to 2.8 per cent. Recent research by economist Thomas Piketty and others has shown that inequality levels have reached a historic high in India. The India Employment Report 2024 has shown that among the unemployed, 65.7 per cent are educated, having completed secondary or higher education. The shrinking of public sector employment, contractualisation, and informalisation of work are some of the significant issues that haunt the youth in India. Such a crisis situation should have triggered a political revolt in demanding solutions, but instead, it is contributing towards strengthening the existing regime. To figure out such a contradictory situation, understanding the neoliberal context and right-wing populist discourse is very important.