Modi, Rahul encourage youth to vote in Karnataka
New Delhi, May 12: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday encouraged the people of Karnataka, particularly youths, to come out and cast their votes in large numbers in the assembly election.
"Urging my sisters and brothers of Karnataka to vote in large numbers today. I would particularly like to call upon young voters to vote and enrich this festival of democracy with their participation," Modi tweeted before the election began at 7 a.m.
Gandhi, in his tweet in Kannada, also urged the voters to participate in the election for the state's 15th Legislative Assembly where the three major contesting parties are Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda-led Janata Dal (Secular).
"The voter turnout is a sign of dynamic democracy. I welcome all my young friends who are voting for the first time in Karnataka. People from Karnataka will be able to celebrate the largest festival of democracy with a great number of celebrations," Gandhi tweeted.
A total of 15.42 lakh voters, aged 18-19, have registered to cast their ballot for the first time. Over 5.06-crore electorate, including 2.56-crore men, 2.5-crore women and over 5,000 who identify themselves as the third gender are exercising their franchise.
Voting in 222 of 224 constituencies in state will continue till 6 p.m. and the result will be declared on May 15.
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“BJP's biggest success has been…” Stand-up Comedian explains party’s pattern of setting narrative
New Delhi: Stand-up comedian Abhijit Ganguly expressed his observation about the perceptions of progress under the BJP government in India. Ganguly pointed out that the BJP's greatest success has been in convincing their fanbase that something positive is happening somewhere, even if it might not be apparent to everyone.
He noted that many people, who have not utilized certain services, confidently believe that improvements have been made, despite those who regularly use them knowing otherwise.
According to Ganguly, there seems to be a disparity between perception and reality. For instance, people who have not traveled by train for years confidently assert that India's trains are improving, but regular train commuters are well aware of the truth. Similarly, air travelers might believe that airways have improved, but those who have recently used flights understand the challenges, such as inflation and declining service quality.
"BJP's biggest success has been in convincing their fanbase that something good is happening somewhere, maybe not around you. People who have never stepped on trains for years say with confidence India's trains are doing so much better, but the ones using it know the truth. Train using folks are meanwhile thinking airways has become better while those using flights know how much inflation and bad service has plagued it recently. Service people taxed heavily are thinking okay my taxes are heavy, but ease of doing business is getting better and India's a success story, while people in business know if anything it should be renamed to difficulty in doing business and most business success stories are in spite rather than because of the government,” he stated.
He pointed out that salaried middle-class individuals might feel the impact of inflation, while they believe that direct benefits are helping farmers. However, farmers know the reality of the heavy taxes they are facing on fertilizers and pesticides.
“Salaried Middle class people thinking that inflation is there for me but for farmers etc. direct benefits helping them, while farmers know how much taxes they are having to pay on fertilizers pesticides etc.” he further wrote.
Ganguly's post highlighted a common pattern, there seems to be an overarching narrative that something good is happening, although it may not be experienced firsthand.
BJP's biggest success has been in convincing their fanbase that something good is happening somewhere, maybe not around you. People who have never stepped in trains for years say with confidence India's trains are doing so much better, but the ones using it know the truth. Train…
— Abijit Ganguly (@AbijitG) April 20, 2024
