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Catch them young: Modi eyeing 133 million first-time voters for 2019 polls

In 2019, first-time voters in India will be twice the size of France's population

Voters showing their inked finger marks after casting vote in a polling station during the second and final phase of Assam State Assembly election 2016 in Guwahati
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Voters showing their inked finger marks after casting vote in a polling station during the second and final phase of Assam State Assembly election 2016 in Guwahati

Sai Manish New Delhi
This year, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered his shortest Independence Day speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort, it might have been directed to a generation whose attention span is shorter and lifespan longer than its predecessor. His eye might have been set on those born from 1997 to 2001: In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, they will be exercising their voting rights for the first time in a parliamentary election.
 
“January 1, 2018, will not be an ordinary day – those born in this century will start turning 18. For these people, this is a decisive