Arvind Kejriwal is wooing the young and power

Young voters are crucial and their preference can tilt the scale in the polling on Feb 7

GN Bureau | January 13, 2015




The day election commission announced Delhi polls schedule, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor, Arvind Kejriwal shot an open letter to the youth on his Facebook page and also on a popular news website ‘Youth ki Awaz’.

Starting his letter with a quotation of Swami Vivekananda, he said, “Fence sitting will get us nowhere. If a problem bothers you, find a way to communicate and solve it.”

Although he didn’t mention anything about Delhi assembly elections in his letter, it was clear that AAP convenor and former Delhi chief minister is aiming to capture the young voters in Delhi.

Without doubt the young in Delhi hold key to power in the capital. Even in the past the first time voter proved to be deciding factor on many seats. Most of the surveys also hold the same view and the recent opinion poll points in that direction.

According to India Today-Cicero opinion poll, it is also very clear that young voters will play a crucial role in deciding the fate of the fractured assembly after the assembly elections held in December, 2013.

According to this opinion poll, the BJP is projected to win 34 to 40 assembly seats while the AAP is likely to win 25 to 31 seats. The Congress could get 3 to 5 seats. The total sample of survey, conducted in all 70 constituencies and 210 polling stations, was 4,459. Although the survey projected BJP in the lead, it has also kept AAP in the loop of a possible government in Delhi.

As per the electoral roll by election commission, as many as 2.26 lakh first time voters, in the age group of 18 to 19 years, will cast their vote in the upcoming Delhi assembly elections.

In the last Assembly elections held in December 2013, the BJP won 31 seats, the AAP 28 seats, the Congress eight seats and others three seats.

The AAP led by Kejriwal formed government in Delhi on December 28. However, he resigned after 49 days after the failure of introduction of Delhi’s Lok Pal bill. After that, Delhi was put under president’s rule.

Meanwhile, the picture about who will rule Delhi will be clear in the first fortnight of February.

The EC on Monday announced that Delhi will go to polls for its 70 assembly seats on February 7.  The counting of votes will take place on February 10.

With the announcement of poll dates, the model code of conduct has also come into immediate effect from Monday (January 12). As many as 1.30 crore voters will be eligible to cast their vote across 11,763 polling stations.

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