BENGALURU: Politicians squabbling in the House, embroiled in petty politics, and how a party responds to scams and controversies -- all these are being closely watched by the youth which will influence the way they vote. Calling the fights and bickering in Parliament or in the Assembly as shameful, second-year computer science engineering students of the University of Visvesvaraya College (UVCE) told TNIE that the way a party responds to controversies is something they are observing before they vote.
“We don’t know what a leader’s mindset is, and whether he or she is actually involved in a scam. But after a scam or a controversy comes out, most political parties will still continue to support that leader and allow him to contest. Even if a leader goes to jail, they continue to hold party positions. This means our votes are not important. We are made to look like fools. In the Assembly, they engage in fights, which is shameful,” Prajwal N told TNIE.
In many cases, a student pointed out that politicians who are mired in a controversy or released from jail are lionised, rather than kept at an arm’s length.
“When politicians are released from prison, it is celebrated like a festival. If someone has committed a crime, we should avoid that person. Politicians who occupy high office and hold pivotal positions in the party should respect that place and position. They cannot talk whatever and however they want,” said Suhas BM.
Controversies affect the overall development of the nation or a state, Vinutha VM told TNIE, and explained that “we should think whether the problem has been manufactured by the party and what has been done to resolve it.”
“When we see MLAs misbehaving with others, we hesitate to approach them with our problems,” Vinutha said. Asked what factors they consider while voting, the youth said they consider the individual, his or her party’s ideologies, and the opinion of the family members. “We look at the party’s agenda and ideologies and the candidate. What has the party done during its term? Will a candidate respond to our plight? Will he or she bring about any changes and development? We talk politics over dinner, but at the end of the day, voting is secret,” said Vaishnavi.
“Party politics is changing constantly, so we look at a candidate’s politics. We also compare it to other states and try to understand if the party has been working consistently. If there is no difference between the present and the earlier term, there’s no point in re-electing a candidate,” said Prajwal.
INCLUDE TOBACCO CONTROL IN MANIFESTO, PARTIES URGED
Bengaluru: Deploring the “cheap” marketing tactics by tobacco companies to which the children are falling prey to, SJ Chander, convenor, of Consortium for Tobacco Free Karnataka (CFTFK), said political parties should include in their manifesto ways to keep children away from tobacco products. “Due to its addictive nature, they are hooked to it for their whole life,” Chander said. The organisation has been working on tobacco control in the state since 2000. CFTFK and Associated Management of Primary and Secondary Schools in Karnataka have written to all political parties to include protection of children from tobacco and hike tax on tobacco in their election manifesto, he said.