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The choice of prime ministerial candidate will be the biggest influence on the electoral decisions of college students.
This was the key finding in a recent survey carried out by Kaybase, a research-based consulting firm, among college students in south India. The students were asked about factors and issues influencing their electoral decisions.
A total of 982 students participated in the study; of these, 490 were boys and 492 were girls. The respondents included students from IIT Madras, premier business schools, law schools, and arts and science colleges. The students belonged to Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
About 78 per cent of students surveyed said they would definitely vote in this general elections while 17 per cent have not yet decided whether they would vote or not. Of the 78% who said they would vote, a whopping 83 per cent have already decided whom to vote for.
When asked which is the most important factor influencing their electoral decisions, 50 per cent of students said it is the prime ministerial candidate of a political party while 23 per cent said it would be the local candidates contesting in their constituencies. The key finding here is that for the college-going voter, it is not the political party that matters but the individual projected as the future leader of the nation. Also, when asked whether they had made their choice for the next prime minister, 63 per cent replied in the affirmative, further strengthening the finding that prime ministerial candidates will play a huge role in the electoral decisions of the young.
The three most important qualities that this specific set of voters would want to see in their next prime minister are that he or she be well-educated (64 per cent), not corrupt (58 per cent) and development-oriented (51 per cent).
The five issues that college students consider the most important while deciding which party to vote for are education (89 per cent), women and child rights and safety (88 per cent), development of villages (86 per cent), national infrastructure (84 per cent) and addressing power shortage (81 per cent).
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