It’s difficult to pinpoint on whether it was the “Pappu can’t vote” jingles by the Election Commission of Delhi or the recent terror attacks in Mumbai that did the trick. But the fact remains that the Delhi Assembly elections witnessed huge participation by the young voters of the city. While some of them talked about development, others were concerned about the fight against terrorism.
Ajay Poddar, a call centre executive, said, “While we know that no party can solve the issue of terrorism completely, we as voters can at least try and set up a responsible government.”
Not failing to see the potential of the young voters, both the BJP and the Congress had tried various ways to turn the tide in their favour. While the BJP had launched websites, the Congress had promised new technical institutes and succeeded in impressing voters like Gurtej Singh, a third-year student of Khalsa College, from Model Town. Gurtej said, “I am happy that I voted and got the right candidate elected from my constituency. I strongly believe in the Congress and its focus on development.”
According to an NGO, Exercise Franchise for Good Governance, there were 30 lakh first-time voters registered in Delhi this year and the turnout from the age group of 18-25 was immense.
Chief Electoral Officer of Delhi Satbir Silas Bedi said that the turnout of young voters had been “satisfactory” and that she was happy that the campaign by the EC on drawing the younger crowd had worked well.
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