First-time voters lack interest in poll process

RAJKOT: "Kill a few people and you can get into politics" is the cynical voice of a 20-year-old. Raju Modi of Sorathiyawadi area of the city says, "I am 23-year-old but haven''t voted even once."
Disinterest in anything political is true of first-time voters in Rajkot. Of six students TNN spoke to at the Kundaliya College, between 18 and 20 years of age, only one will cast his vote."Politicians are opportunists," says Raka Patel by way of explanation for deciding not to use her right to vote.
Fears expressed over false votes being cast in their names fails to invoke any sense of duty. "False votes being cast is an indication of the farce, elections have become," says Radhika a post-graduate student at the Saurashtra University.
Corruption and suspicious credentials of politicians put off many first-time voters. "Scams are so common and culprits are roaming about freely. Take Vajubhai Vala''s example. Look at what he has done and yet he is contesting," says a commerce student at the city college.
"The process of electing a representative to the state assembly is perceived as a process of choosing the best of the worst," says Pratik Shah, a fresher at the Bhalodiya College.
Areas of concern for first-time voters were expressed as reservation in job and educational institutions, rising cost of living and the communal situation in the state. Ram Pratap Singh, a second-year student of a computer course at the University told TNN, "I am worried that even with my knowledge of computers and fluent English, I won''t secure a government job due to the quota system."
Not surprisingly then, this disillusioned lot of voters have few expectations from present-day politicians. "What can people like Vala, Manoharsinh Jadeja or Narendra Modi give us except a communally divided society," they say.
Politicians, too, are shockingly unconcerned about wooing this section of the electorate. With most big parties devoting not more than a few paras in the party manifesto about employment and other issues relating to the youth, it is not surprising that most present-day young voters do not even know the names of candidates from their own constituencies. Worst still, few read newspapers, or watch election coverage on television.
However, a lone voice is that of Naval Kishor Dey, a first-year Bachelor of Arts student at the Dharmendra College. "It depends on young people like us to initiate the process of change and choose a party which can provide a stable government. We must be instrumental in ushering a new era of politics," he says with conviction.