“Why should we vote? It is true that voting is our right and we fight for our rights, but do we exercise this right properly is question which has become prominent during this election season. More than 50 per cent of the youth and women should understand that it is their duty and should exercise their franchise.

If one observes the elections till now youth and women voters of middle and upper middle class are a rarity at the polling booths. This tendency has to be curbed and the voting rates have to increase.  Only when the polling rates increase one can hope for a stable government. To vote is the responsibility of every person, says poet and thinker Prof K B Siddaiah.

“Voting is a non-violent weapon of democracy. We have been constantly fighting for our rights, but we not make use of voting to get these rights. We should not forger the fact that voting is not just a political right, but also a moral force”, says Siddaiah.

“When we have such an important right in our hands, it is a great mistake to refrain from voting” he adds.

Writer Shailaja Nagaraj says, “Among the constitutional rights, the voting rights is the most important. It is the foundation of democracy and it the responsibility of a citizen. Women and youth should vote and fulfill their constitutional obligation. Retired professor of Government Commerce College Prof Chandrashekhar Rao says that more than saying that voting is our right, it is our duty. “Only when we discharge our duty , do we get the authority to demand our rights. It is only than we can courageously ask the people’s representative, if he is performing. How can one demand facilities without discharging one’s duty.

Prof Rao appealed that all classes, including middle class, of women and youth voters should go to the polling booth and exercise their franchise.