For 19-year old Sruthi, it was an exciting experience when she cast her vote for the first time in Tamil Nadu.

Braving heavy rain, Sruthi, along with her friends in the colony, went to the booth early in the morning.

Sruthi is one among the several lakh first-time voters in the state, who did not take the democratic responsibility lightly.

Many first-time voters in the state said that they did their research on the background of the candidates before exercising their franchise.

“I went through the candidate’s profile thoroughly on the Internet before I came to vote”, K Sivaraman, a third-year B Com and a first-time voter, told DH.

“We need job opportunities for both young men and women. All the previous governments have failed to ensure it. We cannot keep quiet if the new government too remains silent on this issue,” the youth said. Sivaraman wanted to know if his candidate is really worthy of his vote and he expects him/her to come to the constituency frequently to know the problems faced by his area electorates.

Braving rain

Like Sruthi and Sivaraman, many first-time voters, braving heavy rain, turned in large number across the state.

According to the Election Commission, a total of 21.05 lakh names in the age group of 18-19 have been identified as first-time voters in the latest electoral list.

Apart from safer society for women and transparent government, the youngsters who voted on Monday also sought special attention to education system and its upgradation.
“The new government should take control of the private colleges since they are collecting huge capitation fees from the student,” S Karthikeyan, said.