In Madhya Pradesh, about 2.2 lakh young first-time voters will cast their vote in the upcoming assembly polls. In at least 31 constituencies, the teen and first-time voters will surpass the winning margins of the 2018 state elections. 

Newslaundry spoke to several such young voters in Madhya Pradesh’s capital Bhopal on the big issues that will influence their poll decision. Most of the youth emphasised “freebies cannot empower women”, and that the “politics of communalism is on the rise”. 

Shradha, a young voter from Bhojpur constituency, said: “I don’t think Laadli Behna Yojna has been launched to empower, in fact the sole aim of the scheme is to lure women voters.”

Nineteen-year-old Harshita said: “I am going to vote on the issue of lack of health infrastructure in the state. And the politics of communalism needs to cease.” 

The other key issues for the youth were unemployment and lagging educational infrastructure in the state. One of the first-time voters said: “We have not seen any government other than the BJP’s. A change is urgently needed now.” 

Watch. 

This report has been published as part of the joint NL-TNM Election Fund and is supported by hundreds of readers. Click here to power our ground reports.