'Healthy' turnout expected in UP

With up to 60% of young voters in the age group of 18-30 enthusiastic to exercise their franchise, a “healthy” turnout is expected in the Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, revealed a survey by Assocham.

The survey also indicated that the young voters would ‘‘seriously consider’’ many issues before selecting their candidates.

“Climate and environment, corruption, cost of living, crime, education, healthcare, housing, infrastructure, jobs and social welfare together with safety and security are key election issues for young voters in the state,” highlighted the  Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) survey, conducted last fortnight.

“Efforts of the Election Commission together with campaigns being run across different media have significantly helped in raising awareness about the importance of voting among youth and in building their opinion,” said D S Rawat, secretary general of Assocham.

Of the remaining 40%, 15% respondents said they were undecided and have not yet made up their mind about voting, even though they are keeping track of the elections through social media platforms.

About 10% said they “did not think anything would change even if they voted as all political parties were the same” and  their vote would not make a difference. About 5% said they did not feel very strongly about elections as they were not aware of the issues and they did not have much at stake. The remaining said they would rather treat voting day as a holiday.

Young voters

60%: Enthusiastic to exercise their franchise
 15%: Undecided, but keeping track of elections through social media platforms
10%: Don’t think anything would change as all political parties were the same
5%: Did not feel very strongly about elections
 5%: Would rather treat voting day as a holiday