2014 is going be different. I’m going to tell you the reasons why it’s going to be different., and why 2014 can really change the future of India.
Firstly, urban seats are increasing — there are now about 200 out of the 543 seats in India that can be classified as urban seats where the urban population is more than 35%. And that’s a fact of the rising urbanisation which we have heard earlier today.
Secondly, first-time voters. These are people who have basically grown up in the post or under the reforms era of 1991. These first-time voters don’t remember what it was like to be in the past. People who are older think what we have today is so much better than what was there in the 1970s and 1980s. But the first-time voters have incredible aspirations.
They are the ones who if they register and go out and vote will account for 10-15% of the voter base. Middle India doesn’t vote in large numbers today. But they have substantially large numbers because of the reforms. They have education, and for the first time, they are reachable through technology – Internet, mobile, social and video (YouTube).
