Senior citizens could swing Punjab polls-Next general election they wiil swing polls in all the States

Senior citizens could swing Punjab polls

By Manjeet Sehgal in Chandigarh

THOUGH the impact of the massive youth voter base in the country has been much eulogised, it is the sizeable population of senior citizens that could be the game changer in Punjab. The state has over 30 lakh voters who are above 60 years of age. Also, there are around 13 lakh voters who are above 70. At 43 lakhs, the total number of senior citizens comes close to the 46.66 lakh young voters ( between 20- 29 years). Wooing the elderly for the Lok Sabha elections will be a tall task for the Shiromani Akali Dal ( SAD)- BJP alliance as the state government has failed to keep the promise of enhancing the social security pension. The promise to increase the pension from ` 250 per month to ` 400 was first made in the 2007 manifesto. When the government failed to fulfil the promise, it was again made part of the 2012 manifesto. The beneficiaries were then promised ` 500 per month. Doubling the pension would be a tough task as the old amount is also not paid on time. Sources say the government tried to bring a policy document in this regard and the Cabinet had also cleared the decision to enhance the pensions, but it was rolled back later. The state has more than 9.50 lakh social security pensioners, including widows, the physically challenged and senior citizens, who are just being paid a monthly pension of ` 250. Another important section of voters that the ruling combine cannot ignore is the youth. There are 4.85 lakh young voters in the age group of 18- 19 years in Punjab. The number of voters between 20- 29 is 46.66 lakh. To woo this crucial segment, the SAD had in the last election manifesto promised free tablet PCs to students. But it hasn’t been fulfilled till date. Another major promise which was made in 2012 and not kept is the unemployment allowance. The Akali Dal had promised to pay a monthly allowance of ` 1,000 to 3.39 lakh registered unemployed youths. With promises made to both the elderly and the youth unfulfilled, the SAD- BJP combine has to work hard to swing the votes of the crucial segments in its favour.