India’s first-time voters seek jobs, harmony in world’s biggest election

Religious tensions, inflation and jobs top concerns from Modi’s decade-long rule among 18 million first-time voters.

For 20-year-old Roushan Kumar, who sells flowers for a living in India’s eastern state of West Bengal, more jobs and better education are priorities. And the first-time voter wants to pick a government that will provide just that.

India’s election, starting on Friday, is the world’s largest electoral exercise with more than 18 million people voting for the first time.

While polls project Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to win a third term, new voters like Kumar are determined to make their voices count.

“I will vote for a party that works for development in education. I will vote for a party that will provide employment – so that there are jobs,” Kumar, a Modi supporter, told Reuters news agency.

Kumar’s priorities match many of those his age. Religious tensions, inflation and a lack of jobs were the top concerns emerging from Modi’s decade-long rule, according to a survey of 1,290 first-time voters in New Delhi by pollsters CSDS-Lokniti.