Young India says social media will impact next elections: survey

Gone are the days when political leaders went to gullible voters just before elections to secure votes for another five-year term. The new age voter now studies the political atmosphere and economic concerns and has become much more vocal over social media when it comes to issues relating to quality of life and the future of the country. A survey of urban Indian voters spread over 12 cities, executed by research firm, GFK for CNN-IBN,  shows that young Indians believe social media will play a big role in the next elections. A majority of the respondents believe that the virtual platform will play a key role in building public perceptions about politics and politicians. [caption id=“attachment_803149” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] The social media impact. Image courtesy Facebook[/caption] According to a survey, elections have increasingly become litmus tests for candidates as the electorate now makes a prior study about the ’experience and maturity’ of a leader before he or she is entrusted the responsibility of governing India. The poll was conducted to understand perception towards UPA-2 keeping in mind the current state of governance, leadership and issues relating to economic management, inflation, foreign policy, etc. The poll was carried out from 7-11 May 2013 in 12 cities—Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Patna, Chandigarh, Bhopal and Jaipur—with a sample size consisting of 2,466 adult men and women. This was a quantitative study where eligible respondents were interviewed, with the help of a close-ended questionnaire. For informed voters in urban India, inflation and corruption rank high on their list of concerns. This might turn out to be the Achilles’ heels of the current alliance at the Centre. The poll revealed that their decision on voting for any party will depend on ‘ people who promise to resolve local level issues’ and who the parties make the ‘prime ministerial candidate for the party’. Respondents from Delhi and Jaipur gave higher preference to people who promises to resolve local issues while respondents in Chandigarh and Bhopal prefer to vote for a party depending on its prime ministerial candidate. With the country having an abundance of youth, nearly half of the respondents believed that the age-limit for ministers either in state or Centre should not be above 60 years. Click here for complete survey