Long before the announcement of dates for general elections 2019, there were elaborate discussions which centered around the young voters particularly the debutants and their expected voting behaviours. It was also unanimously agreed upon by most poll predictors and analysts that much of the election results will depend on this segment of electorate and without their support it will be difficult for any party or alliance to reach the shores of victory. It has been a week now since and declaration of results and the eye-popping victory of the BJP-led NDA is being subjected to dissection for arriving at the winning factors through various post-poll surveys and so on. And expectedly, it is gradually becoming clear that the youth of the world’s largest democracy has stood firmly beside BJP-NDA with Narendra Modi  as  captain.

ECI while elaborating on the facts and figures of this year’s election at the onset of declaration of poll schedule,  divulged that the total number of registered voters will be around 900 million, of this 15 million will be the first-time voters in the 18-19 age group. Naturally, all major political parties did their best to woo this great force by reaching out to them with their promises and assurances. And  undoubtedly, it’s the BJP which has outsmarted their opponents and captured the imagination of India’s Gen Z, born in the age of internet and growing up with smartphones and social media. That the youth is going to be a great deciding factor was calculated with precision long before the 2019 election atmosphere crept in. It can be recalled that the 2017 Independence Day speech of Narendra Modi stressed on the indisputable collective force of the first-time voters who, in his words, are going to be the creators of the destiny of the nation in the 21st century. Since then, it has been a deep and concentrated campaign in getting in touch with them, particularly through a vehicle they love most-the social media. And the election results amply demonstrates that the youth have participated in large number not only to ensure the NDA-2.0 but also to make this elections the biggest in terms of voter turnout with 67.11%, a record so far.

The country is poised to become the youngest country in world with an average age of 29 years by next year which effectively means

64 percent of country’s population will be in working age group. Hence, it is beyond doubt that youth will decide the future path of the nation, just as it has decided the colours of 2019 elections.

At the moment, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that youth is not only the king, but also kingmaker too. 

---

Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

<< Back to News List