Youngistan came out in hordes

MANGALORE: For a majority of the youth, the pub attack and moral policing would have been an issue if the polls were held immediately after those incidents. A lot of water has flown under the bridge since then. It's clearly a case of `Out of sight, out of mind' when they went to exercise their franchise for the first time in a parliamentary poll.
Gender-wise the issue was a non-issue with the boys, but it niggled for the fairer sex, but not to an extent that it influenced their voting.Satyajit, a student, said it definitely was not an issue. "I have my own conscience. I voted on party basis. No issues were applicable for me. "Akshay Kumar, working for an insurance firm, said it was an issue, but his voting was based on the right candidate and party, and this time both coincided for him.
Rajna, another student who voted for the first time, said she completely forgot about the incidents. "I saw achievements of individual candidates given in newspapers and I voted for the candidate and not the party, she said.
With Shobitha, an engineering, student, it was an issue. "I strongly felt about that incident. It did influence my voting pattern as I would not have voted for a party I thought was communal," she said.
As far youth turnout was concerned, the presiding officers of many polling booths were actually expressing their joy that they came out in large numbers. "We thought that it may be a low turnout affair like it was in the first phase, but the turnout from youngsters, very early in the morning, did surprise us," the officer in Maroli area booth said.
stanly.pinto@timesgroup.com