NEW DELHI: Young Indians could play a crucial role in the ongoing general election in the world’s largest democracy.
With nearly two-thirds of India’s population below 35, and more than 15 million first-time voters aged 18 and 19, young men and women have the power to swing the national vote in any direction.
Ambitious, aspirational and impatient for change, young voters — at least in India’s capital — are less focused on issues such as caste and religion than older generations, according to interviews with The Associated Press.
They are interested, instead, on landing jobs after college, living in cleaner cities with breathable air, increasing women’s safety and competing with the world’s biggest economies.
Current Prime Minister Narendra Modi seems to be the favorite, riding a wave of Hindu nationalism that peaked after India’s air force attacked an alleged militant base in Pakistan to avenge a suicide attack that killed more than 40 soldiers in disputed Kashmir.
His main opponent, Congress party’s Rahul Gandhi, hopes to revive the glory of India’s grand old party that ruled the country for more than 50 years, since independence from British colonial rule in 1947.
Here are some of the views of young voters in New Delhi:
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Mayank Thakur, 18, engineering student
“Unemployment is very high in India currently. India has a lot of engineers who haven’t been able to develop their skills because there aren’t enough jobs for them in India.”
“Narendra Modi has provided a lot of facilities for the poor people of this country. In my home state of Uttar Pradesh, villages that were rarely lit now have electricity. Where food used to be cooked on firewood, he has given gas cylinders.”
“India is now a very secure nation in the last five years. When Pakistan attacked us, Narendra Modi gave them a jaw-breaking reply.”
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Vardha Kharbanda, 20, psychology student
“I am looking out for an issue that no government is actually talking about, that is pollution. I have been in Delhi for my entire life and my lungs are gone without ever smoking. So I might just die of lung cancer without touching a cigarette even once. Nobody is talking about pollution.”
“No left and no right can actually run a secular and democratic nation that is multilingual and multicultural in nature. It cannot be done with a single ideology.”
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Arjun Parcha, 32, hospital supplies assistant
“Nowadays, whoever comes into power is busy serving their own interests. Who is looking out for us? Nobody. They are only looking at filling their own pockets. What has happened? Every day we hear about fighting. One party blames the other for corruption, the other blames them back for corruption. There is no solution.”
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Jitesh Nagpal, 20, university student
“For me the biggest issue is job opportunities. Whichever party creates more jobs for the new industries will get my vote because I will have to start looking for jobs very soon.”
“I don’t care much about parties, but there is just one clear candidate for victory and that is Narendra Modi. I don’t think we have a better option to lead the country.”
“I haven’t seen any other strong candidate. I don’t trust Rahul Gandhi yet. Maybe my views about him will change in the future, but not right now.”
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Rajanvir Singh Luthra, 23, YouTube vlogger
“Whichever government comes to power, the first thing they should do is to look after the poor because the rate of poverty is very high in India. No doubt, we now have digital India, we have everything online, but do something for the poor people also.”
“India is still not on top. We don’t have basic facilities. If you go to a government hospital, you have to stand in long lines. You can only go in after waiting and filling forms. A lot of our police officers and other officers are corrupt. There is a lot of corruption in India.”
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Monika Dalal, 20, psychology student
“Women’s safety is the major issue for me. People are talking a lot about it and there are slogans like ‘Save girl child, educate girl child,’ being launched, but I don’t think these concepts are applied to the roots with practicality. I have been to the villages and seen how girls are treated. They are not even educated and if they do go to school, they are forced to marry right after completing grade 12.”
“Modi has done a lot definitely to help us establish ourselves globally and even in the UN By him visiting different countries we are getting recognition there. And they are coming up with some impressive projects to start in India, which has happened because of Modi. So, I think we have really progressed.”
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Kavita Srivastava, 18, studying banking and financial services
“The biggest issue in Delhi is girls’ safety, which is still not 100%.”
“Girls should feel safe leaving their homes and going out at whatever time of the night.”
“I don’t think Rahul Gandhi is the best option. I too am in support of Narendra Modi. I think he has the potential to take India to those heights.”
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Ashutosh Kumar Singh, 24, charity worker
“The issues that should be important aren’t even being discussed. We don’t see or hear about them. The issue should be education and increasing the level of education. Employment should be an issue. And they are working toward that, but it is not considered an important issue. Currently, the state of politics is so lowly in India that people are just busy in pointing fingers and avoiding key issues.”
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Mohammad Anjar, 18, engineering student
“At present only Narendra Modi is fit to run this country because they have done a tremendous amount of work in the last five years. The Modi government is taking the country forward. At least, that is what I hear.”
“Everyone should cast their votes. We all sit at home and say ‘This government is not working, that government is not working.’ Get out of your homes and vote as it is an invaluable weapon.”
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Associated Press video journalist Shonal Ganguly contributed to this report.
India’s population skews young, which may sway its elections
India’s population skews young, which may sway its elections
- More than 15 million first-time voters have the power to swing the national vote in any direction
- Current Prime Minister Narendra Modi seems to be the favorite
Philippine lawmakers vote to impeach VP Sara Duterte
- Duterte is first sitting vice president to face impeachment in Philippine history
- Final decision to remove her from office is now with the upper house
MANILA: The Philippine House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte, following a petition signed by the majority of legislators.
House of Representatives Secretary-General Reginald Velasco told a plenary meeting of the lower house that more than two-thirds of lawmakers had endorsed a complaint seeking to remove Duterte from office.
“The total number of House members who verified and swore before me this impeachment complaint is 215 House members,” he said.
In the Philippines, an impeachment complaint requires at least one-third of support from the 306-member House of Representatives before it can be transmitted to the upper house, where the 23 senators would serve as jurors in a process that could result in Duterte’s removal from office and her lifetime disqualification from holding office.
“There is a motion to direct the secretary-general to immediately endorse to the Senate … the motion is approved. The secretary-general is so directed,” House Speaker Manuel Romualdez said.
Duterte is the first sitting vice president to face impeachment in the country’s history. She has been embroiled in a row with Marcos, following the collapse of a powerful alliance between their families that brought them a landslide victory in the 2022 election.
She has faced at least four impeachment complaints by a number of legislators and activist groups over a range of issues, including a death threat that she publicly made against Marcos, his wife and the House speaker last year, betrayal of public trust, as well as misusing millions of dollars in public funds.
The daughter of former president Rodrigo Duterte has consistently denied wrongdoing, describing the moves against her as a political vendetta.
She is expected to stay in office until the Senate delivers its judgment. A trial date has not yet been set.
Saudi ambassador urges Bangladeshi companies to join FIFA World Cup 2034 projects
- Ambassador cites Bangladeshis’ experience of 2022 World Cup Qatar projects
- Bangladeshi expat workers in Saudi Arabia are hardworking and intelligent, he says
DHAKA: Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Dhaka has invited Bangladeshi companies to bid for FIFA World Cup construction projects as the tournament, to be hosted by the Kingdom in 2034, will require the construction of new stadiums and supporting infrastructure.
Saudi Arabia won the bid to host the world’s largest sporting event, with plans to hold games across 15 stadiums in five cities. Many migrant workers will be involved in building new sports facilities, transport networks, and hotel infrastructure.
“Bangladeshi workers already have experience with the World Cup in Qatar,” Ambassador Essa Al-Duhailan told Arab News at his office in the Bangladeshi capital on Tuesday.
“I urge the construction companies from Bangladesh to go to Saudi Arabia because we will build 11 stadiums and renovate five other existing stadiums. So this will also be a big opportunity for the companies and for the workers to go and participate in this ... And not only the construction of stadiums, but hotels and resorts. This will be a very good opportunity for Bangladesh.”
Some 2 million expatriate workers in Qatar were crucial in making the 2022 World Cup mega-projects a reality. Most of them were Bangladeshis. They have constructed and renovated eight stadiums, a whole new city, Lusail, the Doha Metro, hotels, and new transportation routes.
“You have enough numbers of skilled workers. We are happy to accommodate them and to welcome them. And they will have very good opportunities,” Al-Duhailan said.
“Bangladeshi workers and migrants are hard workers, and they are intelligent, and you can rely on them.”
Around 3 million Bangladeshi nationals live and work in Saudi Arabia. They are the largest expat group in the Kingdom and the largest Bangladeshi community outside Bangladesh. Many are employed in the construction sector and more are likely to find jobs in the industry in the next few years, as the Kingdom prepares to host not only the 2034 World Cup, but also the AFC Asian Cup in 2027, the Asian Winter Games in 2029, and the World Expo in 2030.
“The business of construction will be in high demand (of workers),” Al-Duhailan said.
“We already started preparations ... We are processing 5,000 to 7,000 visas (for Bangladeshis) every day. And we are (willing) to accommodate more.”
Sweden’s worst mass shooting leaves at least 11 dead at an adult education center
OREBRO, Sweden: Sweden’s worst mass shooting left at least 11 people dead, including the gunman, at an adult education center west of Stockholm as officials warned that the death toll could rise.
The gunman’s motive, as well as the number of wounded, hadn’t been determined by early Wednesday as the Scandinavian nation — where gun violence at schools is very rare — reeled from an attack with such bloodshed that police early on said it was difficult to count the number of dead among the carnage.
The school, called Campus Risbergska, offers primary and secondary educational classes for adults age 20 and older, Swedish-language classes for immigrants, vocational training and programs for people with intellectual disabilities. It is on the outskirts of Orebro, which is about 200 kilometers (125 miles) west of Stockholm.
Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer called the shooting “an event that shakes our entire society to its core.” King Carl XVI Gustaf and Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson ordered flags to be flown at half-staff at the Royal Palace and government buildings. The Swedish news agency TT reported that officials have planned a news conference for Wednesday morning.
The shooting started Tuesday afternoon after many students had gone home following a national exam. Students sheltered in nearby buildings, and other parts of the school were evacuated following the shooting.
Authorities were working to identify the deceased, and police said the toll could rise. Roberto Eid Forest, head of the local police, told reporters that the suspected gunman was among the dead.
There were no warnings beforehand, and police believe the perpetrator acted alone. Police haven’t said if the man was a student at the school. They haven’t released a possible motive, but authorities said there were no suspected connections to terrorism at this point.
Police raided the suspect’s home after Tuesday’s shooting, but it wasn’t immediately clear what they found.
“Today, we have witnessed brutal, deadly violence against completely innocent people,” the prime minister told reporters in Stockholm late Tuesday. “This is the worst mass shooting in Swedish history. Many questions remain unanswered, and I cannot provide those answers either.
“But the time will come when we will know what happened, how it could occur, and what motives may have been behind it. Let us not speculate,” he said.
While gun violence at schools is very rare in Sweden, people were wounded or killed with other weapons such as knives or axes in several incidents in recent years.
Trump says he would love to make a deal with Iran
US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he would love to make a deal with Iran to improve bilateral relations, but added that Tehran should not develop a nuclear weapon.
“I say this to Iran, who's listening very intently, 'I would love to be able to make a great deal. A deal where you can get on with your lives,”” Trump told reporters in Washington.
“They cannot have one thing. They cannot have a nuclear weapon and if I think that they will have a nuclear weapon ... I think that's going to be very unfortunate for them,” He said.
Drone attack sparks blaze at oil depot in Russia’s Krasnodar, governor says
A Ukrainian drone attack overnight sparked a fire at an oil depot in Russia’s southern region of Krasnodar that has since been extinguished, regional officials said on Wednesday.
A series of drone attacks by Ukraine on Russia’s energy facilities have sparked fires in recent days at a major oil refinery in the Volgograd region, as well as at the Astrakhan gas processing plant.
“The fire in a tank with oil product residues in the village of Novominskaya in the Kanevsky District was fully extinguished,” the region’s operational authorities said on the Telegram messaging app.
Earlier, Veniamin Kondratyev, governor of the Krasnodar region, said that there were no injuries in the fire that was caused by a falling drone debris. A team of 19 people wielding 19 items of equipment were fighting the flames, he said.
Kondratyev did not say which depot was on fire or detail the extent of damage.
The Russian defense ministry said that four Ukrainian drones were destroyed over the Russian territory overnight, but did not mention the Krasnodar region in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.
The ministry only reports drones that its air defense systems destroy, not how many were launched.
There was no immediate comment from Ukraine. Kyiv says that its attacks inside Russia are aimed at destroying infrastructure key to Moscow’s war in Ukraine and are in response to Russian continued bombing of Ukraine.
