84 per cent youngsters want netas to be below 40

With 33 of the 36 districts in Maharashtra going to polls early next year, a pre-election survey conducted to gauge the voter mood has revealed that 84 per cent of the voters wanted their candidates to be younger than 40.

Additionally, almost 74 per cent of the respondents felt that women representatives were likely to be less corrupt than men.

The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Maharashtra Election Watch (MEW) has partnered with the Maharashtra State Election Commission and Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Pune, to disseminate the findings of the voter perception survey.

The reports stated that the youth prefer to be represented by young candidates. “84 per cent of the voters said they would like their candidates to be below 40. 78 per cent of the voters expressed disappointment over most candidates contesting the local body elections not even being matriculate, whereas a thumping 92 per cent said they would like to see degree-holding candidates representing them in the coming elections,” the report stated.

The report further has claimed that 89 per cent of voters felt that reserving half the seats for women candidates was a good idea, though 89 per cent also agreed that women candidates were only proxies for the dominant, male candidates in their families.

The report stated that criminalisation of politics was also an issue with 91 per cent of the voters believing that it is criminalisation that keeps “good” candidates away from the elections. However, 74 per cent of the respondents felt that women representatives are likely to be less corrupt than men.

Some 94 per cent of voters said they would like the election authorities to do more to keep the criminal elements away from local body elections.