Hungry for change, young India favours a strong government
Monday, 27/05/2013
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NEW DELHI: The youth of the nation are bristling with impatience and hungry for change. The majority favour the BJP over the Congress, believing that the saffron party can better deal with national problems ranging from price rise and corruption to the fight against terror.
This drift rightward could be a hard blow for the Congress in 2014, as youth (18-30 age group) make up about a third of the population. Many of them would be first time voters whose opposition to the status quo is revealed by the survey. 45 per cent of the young respondents voted the BJP as their choice to lead the nation compared to 31 per cent for the Congress.
The young, connecting with the BJP, are pitiless towards the Congress but with age comes a slight sympathy for the grand old party. Thirty-four per cent among the 31-45 year olds and 39 per cent of over 46 years favour the Congress.
Gender too comes into play in political preferences, the survey reaffirms. While 45 per cent of men want the BJP compared to 33 per cent voting the Congress, the variation is not as high among the women – traditionally the Congress’s strong base – with 39 per cent going for the BJP and 37 per cent still opting the Congress.
The ambitious tech-savvy generation also wants a strong government that will last a full term and help them fulfil their own objectives. Over 50 per cent of the youth are not in favour of a Third Front coming to power - a choice governed by prudence, given that none of the governments involving a Third Front lasted the full term in the country.
In fact, no other party except the BJP and the Congress is favoured by more than three percent of youth, nationally. Interestingly, the Aam Aadmi party (AAP) which spawned from the anticorruption movement does not show huge support among youth in the survey. Though eighteen percent of 18-30 year olds said they ‘supported’ the AAP, only 1% said they would vote for the party if elections were held today.
However the youth are not necessarily rallying behind a more youthful figure. Asked about their choice of most capable politician for the PM post, 41 per cent went for Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi while a little more than half of that figure want Congress vicepresident Rahul Gandhi, who is younger by 20 years. This is despite Rahul Gandhi’s constant engagement in the universities and the vital role he played in the party’s youth wing. Modi took to this constituency relatively late, addressing Sri Ram College of Commerce students in New Delhi recently.
The youth seem to have had enough of the octogenarian Manmohan Singh, who completed nine years as the PM last week. Only 12 per cent - least among all age groups – want Singh for a third term with 59 per cent stating his image has deteriorated in the past few years.
Not surprisingly, the survey shows that the UPA-II rule featuring a slew of scams from 2G to Railgate has upset many of those who voted for the coalition in 2009. The miffed are more among the women.
But the primary reason antagonising them, male and female alike, is not the issue of corruption that made people rally behind Anna Hazare but the price rise – a problem that has affected the poor, middle class and even the well-off in the last few years.
“Congress shouldn’t and won’t come to power this time because of the high price. Their slogan ‘garibi hatao’ has been replaced with ‘garibon ko hatao’. In a place like Delhi it has become impossible to have a single proper meal within hundred rupees,” said Pooja, 28, Advisor, Max Life insurance.
Forty per cent men, 43 of women and 38 of youth stated inflation as the reason they would not vote the Congress now. Twenty-four to 29 per cent of these groups cited corruption as the reason.
