Assembly Elections | AAP puts spotlight on youth

File image of AAP chief and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal

With youth constituting a major section of voters in ongoing assembly elections to five states, political parties have made grandiose promises to win them over. From reservation in jobs to unemployment allowances, free laptops/smartphones to free education, all kinds of freebies are on offer.

This isn’t new. As youth participation in elections has increased over the years, major political parties have done this in the past to woo young voters. For example, in Uttarakhand (which went to the polls on February 14), where youth constitute ~52 percent of the electorate, the Congress has been promising unemployment allowances to educated jobless youth since at least 2012. Punjab, where 53 percent of voters fall in the 18-39 age group, has seen successive governments promising jobs to the youth, and failing at delivering their promises.

The failure of major parties to deliver on their promises, and the rising disenchantment/disaffection among youth as a result of it, could likely benefit the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), as it looks to challenge established political players in many of these states by appealing to young voters, and carve out a space for itself.

Projecting itself as the opposition to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and alternative to the Congress, AAP is keen on being becoming a viable third alternative in states with traditionally bipolar electoral contests and a high percentage of youth voters such as Uttarakhand, and Gujarat, while also looking to unsettle or disturb political equations in states such as Goa, and Uttar Pradesh. In Punjab, AAP is the principal opposition displacing the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), and the BJP.

AAP’s Campaign Sheet

So far, AAP’s campaign style sheet has remained the same: the campaign is led by party convener Arvind Kejriwal; staggered release of manifesto promises that come with the “Kejriwal guarantee”, aggressive on-ground campaign with party volunteers aiming to reach maximum number of households, and the promise of bringing in ‘Delhi model of development’ in every state with a focus on education, health, free electricity, women’s safety, and jobs.

This strategy has worked for the party in the past. In the 2020 Delhi campaign, AAP sought votes on similar grounds. Three out of five voters in the age group of 18-25 voted for the party. The party also made huge strides among first-time women voters, with 68 percent women voting for the party, earning it the moniker of youth-backed young party.

To win over the same support group this election season, it is offering monthly allowances to women and unemployed youth in all states it’s contesting in. Since a high unemployment rate is a common factor in all poll-bound states, employment generation is an important poll plank for the party too.

For example, in Uttarakhand, AAP has promised to generate 100,000 jobs if voted to power, and 80 percent reservation in government and private sector for the youth. In Uttar Pradesh, the party has said that it will generate 1 million jobs. In addition to generating employment and addressing the drug crisis, the party has promised to stop the “drain of money and talent from Punjab”.

Setting The Discourse

In the past, AAP has caught the imagination of young voters with its message of ‘change’, and promise to bring in the Delhi model of governance. Its strategy to focus on local issues, and to seek votes on governance issues (as against ideological positioning) seems to have worked in its favour. For example, despite taking a beating in the 2014 elections, nearly 40 percent of young respondents in the 18-35 age group in Punjab voted for the party, crediting it with raising youth concerns more than any other party.

AAP’s impact on this election cycle is visible on the ground too, with major political parties revisiting their manifestoes and campaign strategies, to announce similar sops. For example, taking a cue from AAP, the Samajwadi Party has planned to offer free electricity to consumers if voted to power in UP.

Education, which has remained an afterthought at best in most party manifestoes, features prominently in not just AAP’s top guarantees, but is also starting to make an appearance in poll promises of other political parties.

Political parties one-upping each other in this manner to account for the youth aspirations more seriously is a promising development. While it remains to be seen how this will impact AAP’s electoral successes, one thing is certain: In a political scenario dominated by calculations of caste and ideology, the disruption AAP has caused so far is a welcome one.

Shikha Sharma is a New-Delhi-based independent journalist and photographer. Twitter: @ShikhaSharma304. Views are personal.