... but vote bank politics takes focus off them

In a country where two-thirds are under the age of 35, it would seem obvious that the youth would play a crucial role in the electoral results of political parties.

When every political party is out buying votes to ensure their places in the political system, the attitude of young educated Indians who previously disdained the process and did not bother showing up at the polling booth has certainly changed.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the political parties who still seem to be enmeshed in archaic political ideologies and practices.

Since the candidate list was not clear, Vibhinna, a professional dancer, had no chance to gauge the agenda of different parties. “But this is common practice during the elections as the candidates usually go to the poor and gullible sections who can be easily coaxed into giving votes. They generally ignore the educated people,” she said.

On the issue of providing basic amenities to the public, she said road safety was of prime importance as roads in the City were too congested and accidents were common.

Mahesh, a software professional, opined that there needs to be accountability and certain transparency during elections. “There have been so many construction projects initiated by the government over the years, but none seem to get completed on time. The infrastructure in Bangalore is in a mess” he said.

Noopur, working for an ad agency, had similar opinions and said that the leaders must move with times and should shed their age-old habit of canvassing for the poor and uneducated. “They should take the opinions of the educated and conduct polls, if need be, to understand what ought to be done as far as development of the City is concerned.”