Youth Participation in Elections

Each vote matters

India being the largest democracy, the people get to choose whom they want governance from. Through the process of voting, they express their likes and dislikes. In this methodology, the whole of the Indian population above 18 years of age, consisting of a majority of the youth of India and the educated elite society, need to view and express their opinions by voting. Ironically, it is not happening.

The educated elite evade voting, feeling that nothing can change India or “How much does my vote matter?” The youth of India, out of ignorance does not participate in voting. Despite being given a chance to select and elect the appropriate persons, the golden opportunity to transform the nation is not being acknowledged.

For example, the recent Telangana elections saw an absence of youth’s participation during the voting process which lead to widespread discussion and debate.

As observed for the last 4 years, the youth played a major role in the rallies and dissents that were against the government and its policies. There have been a lot of student-bodies, who demanded a change in the governance and elected ministers. Based on this, there was an expectation of a major turn out of the youth for voting but the absence came as a shock to the media and the public. The major question that came up was, why did the youth not turn up despite them being the ones who initiated the dharnas?

Out of the many reasons picked up by the media, here are a few that stand out:

  1. Ignorance

A majority of the youth deliberately ignored this bright opportunity and let their votes be stolen by local goons and political parties for their own benefits.

  1. Unawareness

Though there were many students and youth taking active participation in the political debates, it has to be accepted that a fine sector of the population was unaware of the political situation in the state.

  1. Disliking candidates

It so happens that at times the people do not like any of the current candidates who are so enthusiastic to rule the state. This is the biggest reason why people do not vote in our country.

  1. No interest in politics

Some may have not tried to vote even once in their lifetime because they have no interest in politics or people who make the rules and regulations.

This needs to be changed because our current politicians and rulers play a major role in shaping the future of the nation. The only answer to this mayhem caused is when we want a change in the governance or the people who represent us, we are supposed to make a visible effort to bring it so that the politicians and the political parties understand the power of the youth.

In order to truly transform India, we need to implement our constitutional duties and exercise the power of vote.

1 Comment

  1. Well it isn’t just restricted to voting as such. Looking at the statistics for participation of youth in the election process apart from voting is quite less.50 is the youth of our government. Similarly we have never been taught politics as such and how crucial our participation is for the governance of the nation.
    Do you have any idea in your mind in order to curb this?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*


This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.