Punjab poll: First-timers vote for change, growth

Ravi Dhaliwal &

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Sameer Singh

Tribune News Service

Dinanagar/Bathinda, Feb 20

First-time voter Manjinder Singh Dala (18), a law student at GNDU, Amritsar, was taken aback when he was nudged by a Sikh standing just behind him in the queue at a polling station. He was surprised because the Sikh was asking him to vote for a “fellow Sikh”.

Create jobs, upgrade infra

I have decided to vote for change. The next government must take concrete steps to ensure ample job opportunities for the youth here only, end the problem of drugs and spruce up health infrastructure in the state. Pushpinder Pal, a first-time voter

“There is just one Sikh contesting. Please vote for him because he belongs to our community,” he told Dala. “I have come here to cast my vote. I have not come here to vote for my caste,” Manjinder told him.

There are 17,576 first-time voters in the district. Officials say “these youngsters came out in large numbers because they know their future depends on the quality of their rulers”. Voting for a candidate based on religious or communal lines was very much in evidence. “Perhaps illiteracy is the reason why the voting on such lines still exists even after seven decades of getting Independence. When voters exercise their franchise, they should not think on narrow lines,” said Upma Mahajan, a school principal.

Lovepreet Singh, a college student, said, “First of all I thought of opting for NOTA because none of the candidates were up to my expectations. Then I thought not voting is not a protest, it is actually surrender of your right. I wanted to prove that I matter in the scheme of things. There is no such thing as a vote that does not matter,” he said.

Many first timers said they voted for change and growth. “Change is the essence of growth. If we do not change, it means we are not growing. By voting, we add our voice to the chorus that forms opinions and the basis of future actions,” said Surbhi Singh.

“The Congress is marred by infighting, the BJP has a communal slant, the SAD has already ruled us for 10 years while the farmers’ party is devoid of any agenda. I am still thinking about my choice,” said a first timer standing outside a polling booth in Dinanagar.

In Bathinda district, there were as many as 16,852 first-time voters. Pushpinder Pal, a first-time voter, said: “I was quite excited to vote for the first time. So far I have observed that political parties or successive governments have not done enough on employment and environmental fronts. I have decided to vote for change.”

Yaishnoor Sharma, another first-timer, said, “I have voted for the party that can usher in development, improve our global standing, take decisions in the nation’s interest and ensure secutiy to women and work for their empowerment. The state’s finance has to improve for better future of all.”