The biggest event of 2014 is not the ICC T20, the IPL, or the FIFA World Cup. It’s the general elections. We may seem to “ignore” corruption, crimes against women, and inflation by saying that we are busy in our own work, but we definitely know what is happening around us. What we need to do is enter the political system and clean it up ourselves. But we feel that this is impractical. So here’s what we can do: vote.
A high voter turnout is important to determine the fate of a democracy. The maximum number of people in the country is in the 18-30 age group. Now imagine that the younger population prefers candidate A while the older generation prefers candidate B. What happens when youngsters don’t turn out to vote? Even if candidate A enjoys more support, he loses the seat to person B.
So make sure that everyone in your family casts their vote. Also spread the word among your friends. Go out and exercise your franchise. It takes no more than a few minutes and is an opportunity that comes only once in five years.
We should not care about the candidate’s caste, creed or religion. Let development and commitment be the criteria for selection. We are smart enough to realise that we must not sell our votes. So why not hope that we can make a difference to our country in some way?
Srivathsan is a II year IT student at RMD Engineering College.
