Race intensifies for decisive youth vote

Aditi Tandon

Shimla, November 7

Race for the decisive youth vote in Himachal Pradesh intensified on Monday with the BJP’s youth wing, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, launching “Cent Percent Voting, No to NOTA campaign” and the rival Congress asking the ruling dispensation to seek the vote of youngsters on the basis of its report card rather than the manifesto.

Both parties have assured youngsters lakhs of jobs should they be elected to power. The Congress has promised one lakh government jobs in the very first Cabinet meet and the BJP has gone further to pledge eight lakh new job opportunities.

Besides, both have mentioned in their manifestos startup funds for the youth with the BJP assuring Rs 900 crore budget for the same and the Congress promising Rs 680 crore (Rs 10 crore per Assembly segment).

The aggressive rush to woo the youth vote this season is not out of place. It stems from the unprecedented scale of the registration of voters in the 18 to 19 years category.

Himachal Chief Electoral Officer Manish Garg said 77 per cent of the state’s youth aged 18 to 19 years had enrolled as voters for the November 12 elections. “On August 15 this year, the time around which we started the summary revision of the electoral rolls, only 46 per cent of the youth aged 18 to 19 years were registered as voters. In October when the final rolls were published, a record 77 per cent of the voters in 18 to 19 year segment had been enrolled. This is the highest voter enrolment for this segment and a result of campaigns in educational institutions.”

As many as 45 per cent of the state’s nearly 55 lakh voters who will exercise franchise on November 12 are less than 40 years, and are impacted by policies political parties are articulating for the youth, he said. In terms of numbers, nearly 1,93,000 voters in Himachal this year are aged 18 to 19.

While the Congress has also announced Rs 1500 a month for all adult women including young ones to catch their attention, the BJP has presented a package of jobs, bicycles, scooties and enhanced Shagun for marriageable girls from the below poverty line category from Rs 31,000 to Rs 51,000.

Daggers are drawn between the Congress and BJP to net the youth vote with Krishna Allavaru, AICC joint secretary in charge of Youth Congress today attacking the BJP for “paper leaks in major government exams, Agniveer military recruitment scheme and 63,000 vacant government jobs.”

So far as national trends go, the young vote had powered BJP’s historic victories in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections. In these two elections, India added 18.7 crore first-time voters – 10.15 crore in 2014 and 8.55 crore in 2019.

Much of this vote was pocketed by the BJP at Congress’ cost. Whether that trend holds in Himachal, November 12 will tell.