The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : First-time voters have no illusions

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Tuesday, Mar 17, 2009
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

First-time voters have no illusions

Sruthi Krishnan

CHENNAI: On May 13, G. Sharadha, who is 19-years-old, will undergo a rite of passage in Kilpauk. She will have made a choice and participated in the largest democratic exercise in the world — the Lok Sabha elections.

“The government cannot keep quiet,” she says, indicating that she is not comfortable with the ruling party, in the face of the attack in Mumbai and the incident in a Mangalore pub. “It is not a matter of State or Centre,” says the final-year student of nutrition and dietetics.

For 21-year-old Divya Ramesh, who is doing her first-year in History studies, the state of the economy is the main concern. She adds that irrespective of the party in power, the Mumbai attacks would have happened.

“I think the Left parties are better equipped (to deal with the economic situation),” she says, adding that she hoped that the Third Front would play an important role. She discusses with her family and friends whom to vote for. “But the final decision is mine.” The economy is also bothering M. Sobhan, who joined an automobile servicing firm after finishing Plus-two. “I can’t understand which party can help,” he says, referring to the unemployment faced by his friends. “It is very confusing.”

While Sobhan worries about the lack of jobs, Arun Ganesh is waiting for the parties to woo him. “I plan to see what kind of campaigning is done first,” before making his choice, he says. He adds that none of the campaigns of the national parties have reached him. “Except L.K. Advani’s advertisement on every website.” But there are no late-night debates on politics with friends. “I haven’t even found someone who is voting,” says this 21-year-old engineering student.

V. Vinayak, who was too young to vote in the last Lok Sabha elections, says that he does not intend to vote. “It is futile to vote for everyone is corrupt.”

He adds that only a leader who was “not corrupt and not obsessed with money,” would inspire him. The system would not change by his vote, he says.

Politics and elections do not make too much of a difference to the middle and upper classes, says 22-year-old Fahd Ahmed. “

But N. Satish disagrees. “None of the schemes reach us. People have to wait for more than a year and may have to spend money to get the benefits,” says this 23-year-old, who works in an advertising firm.

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