Bhubaneswar: Excitement all around for the 18+ as they reached their polling stations in the city on Saturday to cast their very first vote and became a part of the democratic process to choose the next govt for the state as well as the Centre. Amid a pleasant overcast weather, the youngsters came out of booths all smiles and took selfies with their inked finger at the stands provided by the authorities.
“This is the first time I have exercised my voting right.I was very excited from the morning since my father told me to accompany him to our nearest school to cast the vote. I am feeling proud to become part of the process now,” Akash Sharma, 21, a resident of Rasulgarh, said.

The youngsters also had development on their minds as they pinned hopes on the next govt to create more jobs to eradicate unemployment, combat corruption.
“Unemployment is a major issue our country and the state is facing right now. I want the next govt to concentrate on creating more jobs for youngsters like us. This will help drive the economic growth of the country,” Akankhya Mishra, 22, a first-time voter at Bomikhal, said.
The young voters are also worried about corruption and rising inflation. “These two issues are making life difficult for people especially the middle class. The next govt needs to deal with it properly,” Tutu Baliarsingh, 22, a voter in Palasuni, said.
Reservation in education and employment sectors are the other issues the youngsters want to change. “Reservation should not be made on the basis of caste but on the financial status of the particular group of people,” said Prasant Dash, another first-time voter. The city on Saturday witnessed an increase in the turnout of voters, including young voters. “This is quite a crowd unlike in previous elections in Bhubaneswar,” Vikrant Swain, a resident of Bomikhal, said.
According to the data of the CEO of Odisha, Bhubaneswar parliamentary segment has a total of about 8.67 lakh voters of whom 35,193 are first timers and about 2.79 lakh are in the age group of 20-29 years.

We also published the following articles recently