The thumping victory of BJP in the just concluded 2014 Lok Sabha elections can be credited to the 2.31 crore first time voters to some extent who came out in large numbers to exercise their franchise.
According to a report, the BJP recieved 39% support from the first time voters in comparison to Congress who could only secure 19% votes from them.
Out of 81.45 crore voters, 2.31 crores beloged to the age-group of 18-19 years, around 2.7 per cent of the total voters, according to figures released by Election Commission.
Expecting this trend, major political parties had devised a planned campaign to appeal to youngsters, particularly those who have just registered as voters. Besides the conventional mediums of campaigning, social media was given a great importance in reaching out to the youths.
To achieve its 272 plus mission, the party had created a team of 60 Swamyam Sevaks, selected from two lakh people, who were given the responsibility of take the party's campaign to social media platform.
"The youth played a major role in these elections. Due to social media, we got support from a large section of population through Facebook, Twitter, etc," BJP Vice President Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said.
On the other hand, the Congress party also tried to reach out to the first time voters through campaigns like 'Yuva Josh'.
Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP secured 71 out of 80 seats, 38.1 lakh voters in the age group of 18-19 exercised their franchise, accordign to figures released by the EC.
On the other hand, West Bengal, where the party increased its tally, witnessed 20.8 lakh such voters.
In Delhi's North-west, West, North East, and East constituencies, 81,760, 55,620, 54,889, 46,574 first time voters respectively came out to vote.
BJP recorded win in all seven seats in Delhi where Congress was pushed to the third place.
The union territory of Andaman and Nicobar saw 1.1% of the votes cast by first time voters, the lowest across the country.
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