Power of the Youth in General Elections 2014

The Role of Youth in the forthcoming general elections 2014

“He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future” – Adolf Hitler. This must be the exact thought running through the minds of all the political parties in the fray to win the 2014 General Elections. With a huge percentage of first time voters being added to the voters’ list this year, the decisions of these elections will be in the hands of the youth in a big way.

The youth constitutes of almost 34% of the Indian population, and is India’s precious human resource. According to the latest statistics from the Election Commission (EC), for the first time in each Lok Sabha constituency this year almost 90,000 voters, between 18 and 22 years of age, will be eligible to vote.

The General Elections will witness over 1.79 lakh new voters on an average in each constituency. Data shows there will be around 4.5 lakh first time voters in Assam alone. These upcoming elections will witness the POWER of the youth to bring about a change in the nation.

Today, youth has the power to transform our nation, and it will. The responsibility of transformation, progress and innovation lies on their young shoulders. Various parties in the country are stressing upon youth as a critical part of their preparations for the General Elections 2014.

Narendra Modi and Arvind Kejriwal have been the favourites of youth because of their anti-status quo stand. At the same time, Congress has got Rahul Gandhi to the forefront with the Youth Congress. Regional parties like the Trinamool Congress and Samajwadi Party have also tried to incorporate the youth feature in their political agenda to elevate their prospects in the 2014 elections. Let’s have a look at how each party is focusing on the youth factor to attract them to vote in their favour.

Congress

The focus of the Congress party is mainly on the young voters for the upcoming elections. Rahul Gandhi in a conference promised that a “government of the youth” will come to power in 2014. “The Congress party is an extremely powerful system, and all the Congress party needs to do is bring in younger, fresher faces in the election which is what we are going to do, and we are going to win the elections,” he said. Talking about the increasing representation of youth within the party and in the elections, Rajeev Satav, president of the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) says that in the last four years, almost 70-80 young minds from Youth Congress have become MLAs. In Rajasthan, for instance, the highest votes were gained by the youth Congress president. He got a lead of 18,000 votes. He expresses hope for an excellent representation of the youth in the Parliament also.

AAP

The young Indians have shown a keen interest in politics and have been seen taking a stand in various occasions in the last one year. From the Hazare-led campaign to the protest against crime against women in India, a large population of youngsters came down on the roads to act. Many of them aspire to actively join politics and bring change.

This was quite visible in the recently concluded Assembly Elections which saw a major increase in voter-turnout among the youth in all five states. Despite the fact that voter-turnout among the youth in Delhi was lower than in the other four states, what is noteworthy is that the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP party bagged 47-48% youth’s vote. So AAP is the new choice of the youth. Now the BJP and Congress have to reconsider their strategy to attract the young voter. What is it that today’s youth is looking for?  What made AAP a big hit with the young voters?

AAP provided an interactive platform to them; created unique strategies to battle against corruption, price rise; and gave them a role to play in the politics of today.

BJP

“In any society, youth play a very important role and today’s youth are more aware than a few years back,” says Anurag Thakur who heads the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) youth wing Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morch (BJYM). According to Thakur, issues like unemployment, drooping economy, corruption and uneven foreign policy has disturbed the young minds a lot. As a result today’s youngsters are leaving their luxurious jobs and joining the BJYM so that they can bring about a change in the nation.

Even Narendra Modi has talked about the power of the youth in his speeches, promising development and calling upon them to come and vote for change.

Attracting young voters

Well, all the political parties just need to play their cards right to attract young voters in the General Elections 2014. We have already seen a tremendous increase in the young voter turnout in the recent assembly elections. As expected this trend will continue in the Lok Sabha Elections.

The youth should cast their vote after serious thought on the nature and policies of the parties. Without a doubt, in the India of tomorrow the youth are going to play an influential role in selecting their leaders.

Its’ time for the youth to wake up and take a stand! So, will the first-time voter turnout be as huge as before? It’s ‘Wait & Watch’ time for all parties and the world to watch-out for the results of one of the biggest elections of the world ready to take place.