We are about to witness the biggest festival of the world’s largest democracy on 11th of April. Approximately 900 million eligible voters are going to hand over the future of India to a new government for the next five years, out of which 84.3 million will be voting for the first time. Every political party is eyeing this new vote bank. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has appealed to the ‘first time voters’ to cast their vote in record number and the Bhartiya Janta Party is running a campaign “Pahla vote Modi ko” to woo these budding voters. The Congress party president Rahul Gandhi is also visiting universities to establishing himself among the youth and to grab this uncharted territory.
As per the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) report in 2014, BJP had attracted 34% young voters aged between 18-25 years. By that time, Modi was the most popular leader among youth, but paradoxically, the same youth is the ‘most annoyed vote bank’ this year as they have suffered the most in Modi’s regime.
So, the biggest question is what is the mood of millions of youngsters who came of age this spring? Who will they vote for? What are the major issues they will have in mind before pushing the decisive button?
Want Job, Not Jumla
Modi government has shown a false dream of providing two crore jobs to the youth, but in reality they subducted the same number of jobs. According to NSSO report, between financial year 2012-18, almost 2 crore people lost their jobs and the unemployment is at all time high since the last 45 years. The youth feels cheated by the NDA government.
As a youth, I’m worried about my future. My two elder brothers and two elder sisters are unemployed – in spite of being graduates. I will also be a graduate by 2020 and I have the same fear of being unemployed. The Congress party has promised that it will offer 22 lakh jobs in government sector as soon as possible after forming the government, but critics say there aren’t enough vacancies under the central government to fulfil such a promise. Whereas BJP has not given any concrete road map in terms of providing jobs neither have they fulfilled their earlier promises.
But before voting, youth of India will definitely analyse the agenda of political parties pertaining the youth. They will minutely observe promises regarding jobs and the possibility of those promises becoming a reality. Indian youth will definitely differentiate between job and jumla, and will vote to defeat the politics of lies.
Want Secularism, Not Chauvinism
The divisive politics being played in the name of region, religion and caste is converting Hindustan into Lynchistan day by day. We are slowly moving towards a civil war. In this day and time, the lynching of minorities and Dalits have become common. Since 2015, almost 90 people have been killed by fractious mobs. Among these people, those who were minorities, had been brutally murdered by the “self affiliated Gau Rakshaks” by blaming them for beef eating and slaughtering cows, whereas those who were Dalits had been killed due to the prevailing feudalistic mindset of the so-called highborn people. In current scenario, hyper nationalism is at an apex point under the patronage of the incumbent government. The ruling party and politicians are busy in just certifying dissenting voices as anti-nationals and making statements about sending them to Pakistan.
So this time, I will vote as a ‘first time voter’ to eliminate the poison of hate and to re-establish secular ethos of India.
Save Kisan, Not Ram
As per 2018 financial year, approx. 58% of Indian population depends on agriculture which unfortunately contributes only 17-18% of GDP. This is sufficient to throw light on the situation of Indian farmers.
According to CSDS study report approx. 76% farmers want to give up farming. The crystal clear reason is that the government has failed to fulfil its promises. The situation of agriculture has never been good but during this government the situation has become worse. It is leading poor farmers in debt and they are committing suicide. National Crime Record Bureau report says that more than 296,438 Indian farmers have committed suicide since 1995 and 45 farmers commit suicide every day.
But who cares?
Every political party is busy playing with the religious sentiments of the people. They have burnt the bridge of the ‘Ganga-Yamuna Tehzeeb’ and incited people at a level of animalism in the name of religion.
Politicians are busy preaching sacred things to people who are starving. If they really care about religion and respect humanity; they should first ensure better economic conditions for the farmers. Instead they are busy disseminating propaganda for vote bank politics. They must follow the mantra of Chanakya “Dharmashya Mulam Artham, Arthayshya Mulam Kamam” – which means wealth is the root of religion and if wealth will be weaker, the religion itself will become weak.
So, they must take care of India’s largest population whose soul resides in villages. And this is the only way through which they can win the hearts of people, as well as the fascinating game of power politics. The youth doesn’t want Jumla and utopian promises, anymore. The son of a farmer will vote for the party which will take some concrete and relevant steps to ensure the survival of his father. He will vote to save the lives of 263 million people who are farmers just like his father.