Main menu

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Over 5 lakh first-time voters hold key to Haryana polls

 
HISAR: Young voters are set to play a key role in today's assembly elections in Haryana, as around 84 lakh of 1.6 crore electors, who will decide the fate of 1,351 candidates, are in the age group of 18 to 39 years.

Around 5.17 lakh voters from this group will cast their vote for the first time. In the 2009 state assembly polls, the figure of voters in this age group was 65 lakh.

Haryana Assembly election 2014 polling % Live updates


Considering the youth as a strong vote bank, almost all political parties have focused on them in their manifestos by promising more jobs, quality educational institutions and stipend for the unemployed.

Kailash Vijayvargia, BJP's election-in-charge in Haryana, said, "In the parliamentary elections, the youth was with us, which is evident from the results. Young voters are big fans of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's policy and governance. We will get complete support from this segment of voters in the assembly polls."

INLD too claimed to have the support of the youth vote bank saying they had proposed many things for them in their manifesto. "We have given the youngest MP to the country and the youth has always been on INLD's priority. Party will get the support of young voters this time because we have proposed many plans for them in our manifesto," said Ashok Arora, Haryana's INLD chief.

Haryana Congress president, Ashok Tanwar said that the party has fielded half of their candidates from this age group keeping in mind the large number of young voters this time. "We are sure of getting votes from youngsters on the basis of various plans launched by us in the past for such segment," he said.

Kuldeep Bishnoi, the HJC chief, said, "We have given tickets to more than four dozen candidates who are aged less than 50, out of our 65 candidates. We will certainly get support from the young voters this time."

Political experts, however, said that these voters will consider many factors before casting their vote and may disturb the calculations of various parties after the results.

"It is a quite sizable number. People of this age will not be guided by dynasty, caste or any such issues. This chunk of voters are guided by aspirations and may bring change after the polls," said D R Chaudhary, a retired professor of Delhi University.

Besides youth, around 21 lakh voters are in the age group of 60 to 80 years, out of which 3.41 lakh are above 80. The senior citizens of Haryana are also crucial as they remain enthusiastic for voting like youth.

No comments: