Bengaluru's Gen Z voters draw a blank about election basics

Bengaluru: Despite voicing their opinions on burning issues, many first-time Gen Z voters seem to lack knowledge about their constituencies and candidates.

The four city constituencies have 1,79,006 young voters, accounting for 30 per cent of the first-time voters in the state.

Bangalore Rural tops the state chart registering 55,771 young voters ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, followed by Bangalore North at 53,262.

Sadly though, many young voters DH spoke to were clueless about their constituencies and candidates. The answer in most cases was “it does not matter to me” and “politicians are all the same". But Gen Z voters also had clarity about the changes MPs can bring.

Gowri Krishnawamy, a resident of Banashankari 3rd Stage, said policies to regulate traffic congestion and rejuvenate dried up lakes must be given priority. “We know how the water crisis has affected us in the last couple of months,” she said, adding that a successful candidate must ensure conservation of forest, water, and natural resources rather than focusing only on urban infrastructure. “The earlier they complete the metro works, the better,” the 20-year-old law student said.

A young voter from Byatarayanapura, Prajwal TV, called for improvement of government schools, deteriorating in quality and in structure.

Students from other cities think Bengaluru’s wokeness is lower. “Bengaluru may be more politically driven than Puducherry, but its level of wokeness will never match student movements in Delhi, Mumbai or Kolkata, where my friends study,” said Aditya Thaker from Puducherry.

Several city colleges are holding special campaigns to get their over-18 students to register with the Election Commission’s portal.

“Lots of resources are being shared to help them get information about the candidates,” said an assistant professor of a private university in Bengaluru, noting that the EC’s 'Know Your Candidate' (KYC) is an app that provides information on candidates.