First time voters want a change, while elders vote for Dravidian parties

Madurai: First time voters in Madurai and Theni districts were clear that they vote for a ‘change’ and many of them wanted to vote for new entrants than the AIADMK and DMK in the fray in the Lok Sabha polls. However, the two Dravidian parties hold sway over the elderly voters in the region.

The youngsters in Matharai in Madurai district, which is part of the Theni Lok Sabha constituency, said that all of them, who were voting for the first time in the village, had decided to vote for a party other than the AIADMK and DMK. C B Naveen Chandran, who is doing his BA in Loyola College, Chennai made a trip to his village to express his solidarity with his friends and do his democratic duty. All of them including R Thangamalai Ramu, and M Vijay named the party for which they were going to vote.

Nivedha and Vijay, also from the same village, said that they were voting for a change. In Andipatti, first-time voter Jaya said that she was voting for a party, which is a ray of hope for the youth in the state.

Twenty-two-year-old Mathan Kumar, who missed the 2016 assembly elections, said that he was very excited to cast vote in this Lok Sabha polls and that he did a lot of research and discussed with a lot of people before choosing the right candidate. He added that he expected “a positive change” in the existing scenario in Tamil Nadu. “Promise of more job opportunities is also one major factor which determined who I voted for,” said Mathan, who cast his vote at Madurai Pillaimar Sangam Higher Secondary School.

Many first-time voters opined that their choice of candidates is based on family influence, friends and information they received across on social media. Some of them have admitted not doing any background research on the candidates. However, there are many exceptions. Selva Ganapathi, 23, from Thiruppuvanam in Sivaganga constituency said that his decision was based on the research he did on parties and candidates. “Why would I let my parents or friends to influence my vote? I have been following news and newspapers and updating myself on the current affairs,” he said.

Elderly voters

Angamma, 83, of Matharai village carried her slippers in her hand while going to vote as she said she feared she would slip wearing them inside the booth. “I have voted in many elections for the ‘irrattai illai’,” she said, not specifying for whom she voted this time.

Vasiamma, 70, of Andipatti had finished voting and had come to sell onions on the road near the Andipatti bus stand as early as 10am. “We were given money to vote,” she said not specifying the amount. An 85-year-old man S Sappani, who came to cast his vote at Madurai Pillaimar Sangam Higher Secondary School, claimed that he was shocked when he couldn’t find the hand symbol of the Congress and eventually, he has decided to vote for the CPM candidate (Su Venkatesan) as an alternate. His son-in-law M S Paramasivan said that Sappani was happy to know that both the parties were in an alliance in the state.