As about 8 lakh first-time voters are going to exercise their franchise in the upcoming elections, all the parties have started chalking out strategies to woo them.
As a part of its exercise, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) today convened a meeting of its young leaders at Sankha Bhawan. They were trained on how to attract young voters, check propaganda against the party on social media platforms, highlight the Naveen Patnaik government’s achievements before voters and discharge their responsibilities.
They were asked to work hard for the organisation. Leaders like Biju Chhatra Janata Dal (BCJD) president Devi Ranjan Tripathy and Biju Yuva Janata Dal (BYJD) president Byomkesh Ray imparted the mantra for poll success.
“How we can assume an important position in social media platforms was discussed and we have also pledged to woo voters to give Naveen Babu another opportunity to serve the people of Odisha,” said BCJD president Tripathy.
Meanwhile, the BJP and the Congress said the BJD would fail in its attempt to woo voters.
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“An anti-incumbency is there among the young voters. So the BCJD and the BYJD are politically demoralised. They will undoubtedly fail in their attempt,” said BJP Yuva Morcha president Abhilash Panda.
“Such training programmes will come a cropper. We have been reaching out to the students. We will soon launch a signature campaign. The students have taken a vow to topple the BJD government,” said Chhatra Congress president Yasir Nawaz.
The BJD government reportedly has donated lakhs of rupees to educational institutions and provided scholarships to students. Yet, why it is so apprehensive of young voters has reamained a question.
As per political analysts, several yojanas notwithstanding, the young voters are turning away from the BJD while being attracted by the personality and leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“The new voters are increasingly attracted towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his magnetic personality,” said Akshaya Sahu, a political analyst.