. Deccan Herald interacted with a bunch of CKP students to find out their views and expectations from the impending elections.

For these young, first-time voters at the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishat campus, the State election is no occasion to expect dramatic changes. They have a ready rationale for this pervasive negativism: Politics has been transformed from a social service platform to a means to fulfill individual greed.
Disappointed with the choice of candidates, fed up with the false promises, the KCP students are in the mood to do some serious political talking.

Getting popular

According to Shailesh: “Elections are no more about selecting a person to lead, but a means to develop the politicians themselves. With the kind of marches and menaces, they seem keen only on getting more popular.”
Another art student, Kathyayini is upset that a person although not fit, can contest if he has money and that no leader ever fulfils his or her promises.

Committed to exercise their franchise at the elections, they want some educated, talented and committed young leaders to be in the list of candidates. They want a minimum educational qualification for politicians too, “irrespective of whether one is a son or grandson of a minister or MLA” as Poornima puts it.
However, they are themselves not eager to join politics as they feel their choice of field is different.
Tejas adds to the point: “If you are not Kumaraswamy, it’s not easy to be in politics. We cannot compete with regular politicians - we might even invite life threat! Politicians are rowdies too.” But, Sandhya, Poornima and a few others see citizens being “selfish” and that “it is not enough if one achieves in own fields, but has to think beyond.”


EXPECTATIONS


*Making education affordable
*Food for all and more employment opportunities.
*Solving problems of water supply and roads in rural areas.
*Assured livelihood to farmers.
*Attention to other cities and towns.
*Rise in pay for government teachers and other staff like CMC workers.
*Proper transportation facilities, traffic control and roads’ improvement
*Completing infrastructure projects within deadlines
*Controlling the cost of living
*Planting trees in city wherever they are cut.