If our Government fails to work for a cause of betterment, it is not only the Government to blame but we. So it is we who decide where India will be in the future and for that we vote and vote wisely.

Gwyneth Gashnga, 18,
Student, First time voter

Elections may seem a bore to a majority of the youth but then there are those who believe that their one vote can really stir up the entire nation. I, for one, fall under the latter category. For first time voters like me, an election is all excitement. But more than that I believe that my vote should go down as a vote for the progress of the country. What is to be understood is the importance of our vote. Although one vote it may be, but my vote is my right and it will definitely make a difference to my democracy.

Swarnava Choudhury, 18
Student, First time voter

Change cannot come overnight. It is very hard to expect such type of drastic measures. But what I voted for is a change which although may take time, but has to be of a permanent nature. If we call laws which we implement in our countries as strict laws, then why do heinous crimes continue to take place? We need a change we can rely upon, and being a first time voter myself, I want to be a part of this change.

Nicholas Jyrwa, 28
MBA student

Indeed, as a youth of this country I am not expecting the top leaders to turn India into a superpower in a day. What I want is a leader who runs politics on issues and not on identities. Tackling issues such as unemployment, rape, corruption, population and so on would actually be constructive rather than concentrating on how to increase the amount in SWISS BANK accounts. I think we should stop being onlookers and stand up for what we believe in.

Prantoo Saikia, 21,
B.Com Student

Elections can never be just another day or a holiday. For me election means voting for the future of the country, voting for the progress of the country and voting for the uplift of the country. After all ‘Democracy is a Government of the people, for the people and by the people’ and being a part of India I voted for my democracy and exercised my right. I want a change I can believe in and have faith in.

Opinions taken by Anirban Paul