Op-Ed: The neglect of younger voters is a lost opportunity for political parties: Sajida Mir – The Daily Mail
It is a rare opportunity for a political campaign to focus on the most important issue in their country, which is usually ignored by political parties – young voters.
However, the latest election campaign for the Indian elections is going to be all about the youth. More importantly, it is going to focus on issues that concern the young voters, including unemployment.
Young voters will be the key to winning a landslide victory by the political parties. The youth vote was always a non-negotiable factor for the ruling party Congress and there is a strong possibility that the young voters’ choice will be decisive for the BJP-led alliance.
The main reason for the non-recognition of this critical factor is that the political parties have not made the youth a priority. The neglect of young voters is a lost opportunity for political parties.
The neglect of younger voters has been so systematic and extensive that even the mainstream media has missed this important opportunity.
Let me explain why the youth vote is the most important factor for the Indian elections.
We know that the youth is the key to India’s success. India has never been successful without the youth vote.
More importantly, the youth vote is the best and the only way for a political party to win a landslide victory under any circumstances.
In a recent poll conducted by YouGov, the youth voted for the BJP in 61 per cent of the cases in the 2014 Parliament elections. The figure was 72 per cent in 2009 and 71 per cent in 2004.
Now, a closer look at the data shows that the youth vote was more than 40 per cent for the BJP when the Narendra Modi government was in office (2014 and 2009).
This was a landslide election victory for BJP in 2009, despite being almost 80 per cent supported by the youth vote and the party being in a very weak position.
In 2014, the youth voted for the BJP in 71 per cent of the cases, nearly three times more than in 2009.
In 2004, the youth voted for the BJP in 66 per cent of the cases, more than five times more than in 2009.
This makes it clear that the youth
