Political parties are well aware of the power the youth wields, and are sending armies of young foot soldiers to woo GenNext voters in the State Assembly elections. To counter the popular perception that only the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), under the leadership of Narendra Modi, can attract new voters as seen in the recently-concluded Lok Sabha elections, the Opposition as well as ruling coalition ally Shiv Sena have encouraged young leaders to travel across the State and reconnect with the youth.
“Any youth organisation is expected to do two things. One, to fight against any form of injustice and two, give a much-needed platform to the aspirations of the younger generation across sectors, not just political,” said Maharashtra Youth Congress president Satyajeet Tambe-Patil.
The Youth Congress, he said, was not only focusing on agitations but also on reviving the organisational structure through door-to-door campaigns.
The party’s failure to win votes in the recent Lok Sabha elections has led the Youth Congress to do some soul-searching. “We realised the disconnect with the youth. They are voting for Modi, because we don’t have an impactful communication strategy. We are reaching out to the youth across the State asking them what they want and will come out with a youth manifesto by reaching out to three to four crore youth online or offline,” said Mr. Tambe-Patil.
The youth wing of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) recently saw a change in leadership with one president and two working presidents, none of whom were from political families, being appointed. All three have been touring the State for over a month now to infuse fresh life into the organisation and boost the confidence of young workers ahead of the elections.
“We are going to every district with a campaign named, ‘My booth worker, the messenger of development and equality.’ The NCP leadership never really lost touch with the ground-level, but we are focusing on how to enhance the dialogue between voters and workers,” said Ravikant Varpe, working president of the party's youth wing. Instead of relying only on technology, the party is ensuring that workers physically reach out to households, he said. The party leadership has said that it will promote youngsters, and the youth wing has given a proposal seeking 30 Assembly tickets for its members.
NCP president Sharad Pawar’s grandnephew Rohit Pawar is likely to debut in the forthcoming elections and has asked for a ticket from the Karjat-Jamkhed Assembly seat against BJP minister Ram Shinde. “As a young politician, my job is to listen to people, communicate and maintain the connect to understand issues on the ground, reaching out to people directly instead of depending on meeting party leaders. It helps in the maturation of the leader in electoral politics,” said Mr. Pawar.
Mr. Pawar has travelled all over the State over the the past year to understand issues. He said it id not matter as to whether he comes from a political family or not. “It is the voters’ connect that matters.”
Aaditya Thackeray, the third generation of the Thackeray family, too is trying to rebuild the connect with workers outside Mumbai through the Jan Ashirwad Yatra. The yatra is seen as the Sena’s attempt to present Mr. Thackeray as a State-wide leader. In this 4,000-km yatra, Mr. Thackeray will thank those who voted for the party in the Lok Sabha elections and hopes to win the hearts of those who did not, Yuva Sena secretary Varun Sardesai said.