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Journalism of Courage
Right across the Sheth Damodardas School of Commerce on the Gujarat University campus in Ahmedabad, Chetan CR runs a tea stall that he has named the “Engineer Tea Bar”. A qualified textile engineer, the 25-year-old began selling tea about two months ago. He is from the village of Pratapara in Bhavnagar district, which is about 170-odd km from Ahmedabad, and has been voting since he got his rights.
“Our village comes under the Talaja Assembly constituency and will vote for BJP candidate Gautam Chauhan, who is from our village. Last time too, he was fielded from the seat but lost by a narrow margin,” says Chetan but adds that he is not sure if he will vote for Chauhan or incumbent MLA Kanu Baraiya of the Congress who won by just 1.28 per cent more vote last time.
Chetan is part of a constituency of voters, the youth, who have a major say on who will form the government. There are nearly 11.74 lakh first-time voters this time in Gujarat, up from 11.8 lakh five years ago. Prime Minister Narendra Modi enjoys a lot of support among the youth and, in a special appeal to first-time voters, said at a rally in Valsad on November 19, “It is not (simply) that you have completed 18 years and are voting … you are going to become a participant in the shaping of the destiny of Gujarat, you are to become a policymaker of Gujarat.”
One such first-time voter is Neha Vaghela, a Master’s student at the School of Languages at Gujarat University. But the prospect has left the 20-year-old more confused than excited. “All the parties, especially the ruling party, just campaign to collect votes for a month just before the elections. They showcase their work and ask for votes. We are very confused,” she says.
Her friend Pratham Solanki, who studies at the private National College of Commerce and will also be voting for the first time, says, “The Congress was not seen anywhere in five years except for now. And the Aam Aadmi Party cannot be trusted, it is an outsider.” But he also points out that the government did nothing about paper leaks for government recruitment exams, an issue the AAP has taken up vociferously.
Vaghela also thinks that the government’s focus should be on education. “Otherwise, the ruling government is fine. Unemployment may be an issue, but education is a greater issue.”
Down the street from Chetan’s stall, Gujarat University students eat snacks at a food stall. One of them, aged 22 years, is a first-time voter and turns out to be inclined towards the AAP. “I want to vote for the AAP, it seems good. I have visited Delhi and seen their work. They have done some good work in education. In my family too, the decision is going to be between the AAP and the Congress. The BJP has not worked.”
At the Iskon Gathiya on SG Highway, where Modi once held a “Chai pe Charcha” in the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections that propelled him to power, 35-year-old Sheikh Abu Zar is a regular. Zar has always gone for the “None of the Above”, or NOTA option. “I don’t think any of these parties should come to power. The Assembly elections are sheer timepass,” he says, sipping his tea amid a crowd of other regulars savouring their bun maskas and gathiyas (a type of deep-fried snack).
Zar has been running an automobile centre across the road for the last 15 years. “It is not about which party comes into power in a state but which party is at the Centre. All the policies the BJP claims to have brought were initiated by the Congress. Even in Gujarat, the issues such as education were brought to the fore by the Congress. The BJP merely followed its path.”
Asked why he does not vote for the Congress if he admires the party so much, Zar says, “Well, the candidate is important too. There are no solid leaders at the local level, in our constituency, whom we can bank on.”
For 24-year-old Veena Solanki who belongs to the Baori community of Rajasthan and makes a living by selling winter wear outside the LD College of Engineering, inflation is the biggest issue. “I believe the Congress in power will take care of this. I have heard this in my family too, even from relatives in Rajasthan, where the Congress is in power. But even the AAP looks promising as these issues are on their manifesto. It is tough to decide.”
