Excited youth brigade gears up for the battle of the ballot

BHUBANESWAR: The moment classes wind up, college corridors and canteens echo with discussions on movies, fashion or sports. But as the poll frenzy sweeps across the nation politics has begun to dominate conversations across the campus.
Reacting to battle of the ballot and electioneering hullabaloo, the youth in the city are all geared up to play their roles as responsible citizens of the nation."This is the right time to exercise our right to choose leaders and we must display wisdom in our selection. We must make sure incompetent and corrupt people do not take charge of our existence," said Madhusmita Behera, a student of journalism.
Agreed Ashish Amanta, a medical student. "While it is easy to say one vote doesn't make a difference, truth is every vote counts. So it is important the youth realize the power of its mandate," Amanta said. "The ball now is in our court and we should ensure the best candidate goes to Parliament," added the first time voter.
While Ashish is considering the personality and vision of each candidate Manisha Behera, a student of political science is focusing on their track records. "Only standing up for a party does not make one a winner. Only quality of work and ability to resolve issues will separate him from the crowd," said Manisha.
However both voiced their support for the Naveen Patnaik government. "Our state has received pretty good industrial and infrastructure boost with his efforts," said Ashish. "But the government also needs to focus on the development of women and the state of education as well. Naveen should be given another chance," added Manisha.
Soumya Pradhan's priority is clean image of the candidate. "Besides they must also have a strong academic background and be aware of the problem of the masses too," said the law student.
But Biswakalyan Mohanty, an engineering student points out, "I am more keen on development and policies framed by the ruling government than politics in its true sense." His friend Prabhat said, "I am looking forward to a government that will focus on health, poverty and unemployment. We are not keen on who is standing from which constituency or who is joining which party for what."
"Old war horses should give way to the younger generation. A government with young blood will make a lot of difference in the state. A leader's wavelength should match ours and a more dynamic approach should be adopted," said Samaresh Dhal, a management student.
"We live in a democratic country where youth is driving the country to new heights all over the world. But unfortunately politicians only concentrate on poor ignorant villagers and illiterate because they can be misled easily," Dhal added.
"Students are used as mere weapons on and off by different political parties to serve their goals. Once the job is done they are dropped like hot potato," said Manisha, a student of political science.
Ashish said, "Time is right for students to wake up and weed out bad elements from the political set-up."