The Angry Youth of Assam Laid Down The Political Roadmap For Parties During Assembly Elections 2016

Assam voted enthusiastically in this elections. A record 84.72% voters exercised their universal adult franchise. Even Kamrup Metro; i.e. city of Guwahati, voted a record turnout of 81.11% which is unheard for any urban area in India.

Yes, no doubt this is largely due to increasing awareness among the youth towards respecting democratic traditions and duties. But more importantly it¡¯s the desire to challenge the status quo through ¡°Poriborton¡± (change) that flared up emotions among young voters.

Asomiya Pratidin

The Political Dialogue is more engaging than ever before!

The burst of social media has been a major reason why youth has been engaged with political dialogue. Facebook is the main battlefield where angst of the youth erupted in different political colours. The heated arguments snowballed into action with the huge electoral turnout, especially young voters who accounted for 6.76 lakh.

¡°Assam has one of the highest percentage of youth in the country and it's a good development in the democratic process to see youth take up their duties as citizens seriously. Exercising one's voting rights is extremely important to keep the wheels of democracy turning no matter what the political ideology they may ascribe to, ¡°says Shaheen Ahmed, a post-doctoral student at Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi, one of many who travelled from Delhi to vote in this elections.

Why has the anger not yet stem down since more than three decades?

Assam has been entangled with many socio-political and economic problems since long.

The first time voters, born in 1998, did not see or lived through Assam Agitation or the violent years of early-1990s. However, the folklore about the misfortune and the experience from successive governments¡¯ failure to address, contain and solve the illegal Bangladeshi immigrant problem has only added fuel to the fury.

AssamTimes

The perennial problems of the state like flood remains critical. However, certain other specific problems stirred up hornet¡¯s nest. The increasing poaching of world famous one-horned rhinos, failure of the government to safeguard ¡°Satras¡± or monasteries from encroachment are directly or indirectly attributed to the illegal immigrants by people at large. The incumbent Tarun Gogoi led Congress government was rattled with infighting, rampant corruption and nepotism. The commentary by Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi to any problem in the state through his rhetoric ¡®Baad diya he¡¯ (Forget it, ya!) has not gone down well with young voters.

Will the clarion call of ¡®Jati, Mati, Bheti¡¯ made by BJP trounce Congress in this assumed ¡°Last Battle of Saraighat?¡±

What seemed to have worked for BJP this election is the pitch that the convener of BJP¡¯s election management committee Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma, once the most trusted man of CM Gogoi, has given to the voters of Assam. Dr Sarma clearly called the three magic words that voters keep close to their heart. They are: Jati (identity or read socio-political rights), mati (land or read economic rights) and bheti (base or read territorial rights). Invoking the Ahom General Lachit Borphukan who defeated Mughal forces led by Ram Singh at Saraighat in 17th century, he tried to draw parallel as how BJP, AGP and Bodoland People¡¯s Front (BPF) stood for Jati, Mati, Bheti as against Congress and All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) forces. Dr Sarma dubbed it as the last battle of Saraighat and passionately engaged with the electorate.

The Indian Express

Rupamudra Kataki, a Delhi-based journalist, flew down to cast her vote in the Dispur constituency. More than exercising her democratic right, voting also meant preservation of an identity for she feared that if the wrong candidate wins the race, she will lose the hope of a better tomorrow. ¡°When I reached home in Hengerabari near Dispur two days before the second phase of election, the streets wore a deserted look. Shops were closed, roads were empty of rickshaws or city buses or trackers. Just like I reached from Delhi, people moved out of city to cast their votes in rural areas. People are tired of inaction and status quo. I feel they want to continue from the recent exercise to update the National Registrar of Citizenship in order to weed out illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. By an all-out voting, people hoped to outwit forces that has historically used the immigrants as a vote bank and crushed the basic and primary demand of the people of Assam: the preservation of identity of true son of the soil.¡±

Rupamudra Kataki

A paradigm shift in political evaluation: what lies for political parties post May 19 results?

The angst in the youth is understandable & certainly a reason why many who resided out of the state came to cast their ballot this time. But this should be directed towards a positive direction for the society to benefit from it, feels Ranjit Choudhury, visiting faculty at Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS). He further added, ¡°The fact that so many people voted this proves that people want to voice the feeling that they want a government that performs on behalf of the people. This should be a proactive expectation. By which I mean that people who come to power don't behave like distant gods. They people should have the awareness not to let this happen. Each vote is an assertion of the peoples' will. This should not be taken for granted. People must realize that they have the power, which they will exercise even after the elections. The powers that come must be pressurized to understand that. In short the society needs to be proactive and demand the fulfilment of its wishes.¡±

Changed nature of Political activism buoyed by youth desire for Change

The buzzword in this election is ¡®Poriborton¡¯ (read change). Whether or not we see a change in Government in Dispur will only be known on 19th May, 2016. However, what change has already been established is that the youth in Assam are restless and eager for some action. They need change from status quo of many problems in the state, they need change in the economic position of the state, and they want to remain proud of their home. The job for next government is left high and dry by the youth. Otherwise, the door will be promptly shown!