Kerala local body polls: Youngsters want to cast their votes, make them count too

Claibyn Maria, a student of St. Albert’s College, Ernakulam.
| Photo Credit:
H. VIBHU

Ebin Raj, a student of St. Albert’s College, Ernakulam.
| Photo Credit:
H. VIBHU

Surya Chandhana of Maharaja’s College, Ernakulam.
| Photo Credit:
H. VIBHU

First-time voters are a diverse group. Many are eager to cast their ballot, excited to be part of the democratic exercise, while others question the purpose of voting.

For Adarsh Sivakumar, a budding musician who is pursuing his final year in Sacred Heart College, Thevara, in Ernakulam, eschewing voting is an act against the tenets of democracy, something that puts the fate of the country and one’s own future in jeopardy. “Being apolitical is a crime.  It is dangerous for society if you choose to abstain from voting. We all have our politics. While we do not bring it to our college, we ensure that we never miss the opportunity to cast our vote,” says Adarsh, a native of Mavelikara in Alappuzha. “It is sad that a large section of the students does not care about politics. But this is my first vote and I will not miss it,” says Adarsh who plans to go home to cast his vote.

While most of the colleges in Kochi city do not encourage politics on campus, students tend to have their own political views or follow in the footsteps of their parents.

As in the case of Claibyn Maria, a final-year MCom student. “There is no politics in our college,” Claibyn smiles and shrugs, when asked about the local body elections and its impact on St. Albert’s College campus. “But I will be voting, can’t get out of it.” Ask her why and she confesses: “There is compulsion, from my parents. But I will vote for the person who has helped in the development of the region, not whom my parents suggest,” she adds.

The apolitical sentiment is writ large on some campuses. Ask Ebin Raj, a BA Economics student of St. Albert’s, and he will argue his way out, citing the reason for being apolitical as a choice he makes because of the ‘vested’ interests political parties tend to have. “I do not believe in politics. In fact the only reason I chose this college is because there is no politics here. Political parties do not care about the people. All they are concerned about is their own selfish needs. Why vote in that case?” asks the 20-year-old. A resident of Idukki, Ebin says though he abstained from voting earlier, this time he will have to vote as “my mother told me that it is important to vote this time or it will create problems.”

Politics might have seeped into the nook and cranny of Maharaja’s College in Ernakulam, but it is not for all. Even after spending close to three years in the college, politics couldn’t make an impression on Surya Chandana, a third-year Economics student and a first-time voter. Sitting in front of a student union office, she says: “I am not politically involved. My family is involved in politics. My father’s friend is contesting. But I am not interested in politics because I didn’t grow up in such an environment. I will vote for whoever my parents say.”