New voters in Darj seek ‘positive’ changes

Dipen Pradhan, EOI, Darjeeling, 11 April: Darjeeling town braces for the Lok Sabha polls, and with only around a week remaining for the vote, youngsters who just enrolled their names in the voter list are all excited, while they also want ‘positive changes’ to happen in the Hills and say they must be given freedom when it comes to exercising their franchise. The revised electoral roll 2014 shows there are 25,990 new voters in Darjeeling district, while 14,143 of them are male and 11,847 are female.

When they will finally cast their ballots on 17 April, the youths, both in rural and urban areas, have in mind, changes that they feel will change Darjeeling.

While some rural youths said they want good roads, quality schools, pure drinking water, medical facilities and libraries, those in Darjeeling town said they want a good car parking area, more playgrounds, ‘zero drinking water problem’ and a good drainage system. The youths also said they should be free from corruption or political bias.

"I am voting to see an end to dictatorship. Every citizen should have the right to free voting. There should be no compulsion from any quarter," 20-year-old Pratika Rai, a first year computer science student, said.

Atul Rai, 20, a second year mass communication and journalism student said, "Though I did not witness it, it is frightening to hear accounts of the bloodshed during the first statehood agitation in the 1980s. I also saw disunity and the never-ending blame game among our own community folk. I will vote to end bloodshed and unite our people."

Prakriti Giri, 18, is a popular singer from Darjeeling and is currently studying in one of the colleges in Kolkata. The first year mass communication and journalism student said she will try to be in Darjeeling to vote this election.

"I don't want to see the common people struggle in vain due to political agendas. In Darjeeling, there has been a longstanding fight for the right to our land and the people have sacrificed a lot for it. I will vote for that sacrifice," she said.

Meanwhile, district election officers, in a move to encourage voters to exercise their right, have been organising various awareness programmes like street plays and screening documentaries. One such programme titled 'Sankalp Patra', a pledge, was organised in some schools of the district.