New Delhi: With the Delhi assembly elections just a few weeks away, political parties are trying their level best to woo young voters. What has made youth so crucial this time around is that the number of young voters has almost tripled during this election. During the municipal elections 2012 there were around 98000 first time voters as compared to 3.5 lakh voters in 2013.
Seeing their large numbers, political parties are leaving no stones unturned to capture this segment of voters. BJP has turned to social media and technology for the same. Many of their leaders like Chief ministerial candidate Dr Harshvardhan are doing google hangouts to connect with youth. Also the party's Twitter and Facebook page have been revamped, also the party is relying heavily on it's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's persona to capture young voters.
The most crucial issues in these elections for the youth are employment and corruption and the BJP is trying to capture on just that. "We will provide employment to youth. There are lakhs of youth, registered will employment exchange but they haven't been given jobs. We will ensure employment generation and open new colleges and universities in the city" says Delhi BJP spokesperson Harish Khurana.
The Aam Aadmi party is not far behind; they are focusing on graft to capture young minds. Online the AAP is already trending, party president and AAP's CM candidate Arvind Kejriwal already has over eight lakh followers, way ahead of his rivals Sheila Dikshit and Dr Harshvardhan. "We will pass Jan Lokpal within a month of us coming to power, they want a change, they know that AAP is the only option" says Kejriwal.
The Congress is also promising more jobs and employment to woo young voters but the youth today is demanding more than just empty promises by political parties. "One of our main concerns is safety for women, it's difficult to even step out alone from our hostel late night" says Ipshita, a student of SRCC, Delhi University.
Inflation is also a big issue with the youth "The house rent, our travel cost, everything has gone up. So, yes we are affected by inflation as well', says Tushar a 21 years old.
Many youngsters believe that most political parties have not addressed their issues properly till now but with their numbers going up, it won't be easy for political parties to ignore the youth this time around.
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