Youth wings of parties set sail early to net new voters

On foot soldiers' shoulders

Youth Leaders

Nikhil Kumaraswamy

Dr Sandeep Kumar

Mohammed Haris Nalapad

When Karnataka goes to polls in about 10 months from now, the number of young voters exercising their franchise will be almost double of those who cast their first vote in the 2018 Assembly elections.

Keeping this in mind, youth wings of all the three major political parties in Karnataka are gearing up with their own strategies to attract young voters.

The issue of unemployment seems to be the main agenda for all three parties and their youth wings that have started ground-level work to get the attention of youngsters.

Notwithstanding the wave of resignations by its office-bearers, the BJP Yuva Morcha is trying to reach out to youngsters on the back of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s schemes, while the Karnataka Pradesh Youth Congress Committee (KPYCC) will bank on its ‘Yuva Dhwani’ programme through unemployment surveys being done in all dsitricts.

The Karnataka Yuva Janata Dal of the JD(S) will hold youth conventions in all districts, where the regional party promises employment.

Last year, the BJP Yuva Morcha covered 220 of the 311 mandals in the state with activities such as the Yuva Sankalp Yatra.

The party’s focus will be to attract youngsters with Modi’s employment-entrepreneurship schemes, according to Karnataka BJP Yuva Morcha president Dr Sandeep Kumar.

“Not just employment, we will focus on how schemes implemented by the BJP government have created employers. And, more than Hindutva, we will concentrate on nationalism and developmental programmes,” he says.

KPYCC president Mohammed Haris Nalapad said the first part of Yuva Dhwani is in progress.

“Employment is the main objective and we’re conducting a survey to understand the unemployment situation among youths,” he says.

The findings of the survey will be used to make employment promises in the Congress’ election manifesto.

“The basic premise is to attract youth by talking to them about their real problems. We’re not just making promises. We want to make sure we hear their problems and focus on addressing their concerns,” Nalapad adds.

Karnataka Yuva Janata Dal president Nikhil Kumaraswamy is planning to tour the state.

He says the JD(S) has prepared a roadmap for employment generation, which will be included in the party’s manifesto to woo youngsters.

“We will soon start visiting college campuses and interact with youngsters to get their feedback,” he says.

In the 2018 Assembly elections, Karnataka had more than 15 lakh teens voting for the first time. This was up from 7.2 lakh in the 2013 polls.

The BJP is implementing the ‘One Booth, Ten Youth’ programme to enroll youngsters in every booth.

The Congress already has the Digital Youth for Every Booth, where tech-savvy youngsters will spread the party’s narratives to the grassroots.

The political youth wings are convinced that fielding younger candidates in the 2023 Assembly polls will help attract the votes of this demography.

“I have conveyed to the party’s leadership that at least 35 seats should be reserved for young faces,” Nikhil says.

Nalapad says that a survey was conducted, based on which the list of “winnable” young candidates has been submitted to the Congress.

“The party is conducting its own survey to know their potential,” he says.

Kumar also expressed confidence that the BJP will go with younger candidates in the next elections.