Narayana Murthy: Increase in young voters turnout a positive sign

Narayana Murthy

Bengaluru: Infosys co-founder N R Narayana Murthy Thursday said increasing young voter turnout is a positive sign for Indian electoral system. "I think I see more people coming out to vote now which is very healthy.. A large number of young people are voting. Atleast in this polling booth, I encountered a large number of youngsters which is very positive," he told reporters. He was responding to a query on the changing pattern in Indian electoral system.

Murthy had come along with his wife Sudha Murthy to exercise his franchise in Jayanagar area falling under Bengaluru South parliamentary constituency. Asked about Bengaluru's poor voter turnout record of 55 per cent in the past, Murthy said he would not worry about it since 65 per cent of the people in IT sector are locals and remaining 35 per cent outsiders.

"One must remember that a significant number of voters come from outside Karnataka. In the IT sector, at best 65 per cent of the people are locals and 35 per cent are from outside. So it is quite possible that they cannot go back to their places to vote, while some may have gone back to vote. So I would not worry too much about voter turnout being only 55 per cent," he said.

The first phase of Lok Sabha polls was held in 14 seats in Karnataka, where BJP faces a major challenge of taking on Congress-JDS pre-poll alliance.