TIME World

Youth Vote Key In India’s Marathon Elections

India is one of the world's youngest countries with 50% of its population still under 30, something that is reflected in the 150 million first time voters aged between 18 and 23 in the ongoing national elections. The polls, which commenced on April 7 and end on May 12, are spread out over nine phases, with young people set to play an important role in determining who ends up leading the world's largest democracy

(More: In India, 150 Million People Will Be Voting For The First Time This Year)

Photographs by Sumit Dayal for TIME

Azad Singh, 23: “Expenses are running out of hand.” Azad is gold-medal wrestler and first time voter from New Delhi. Rising inflation means his special athlete’s diet is bleeding him dry. The Next Generation of Voters - India Elections 2014. The Next Generation of Voters - India Elections 2014. The Next Generation of Voters - India Elections 2014. Mayank Jain, 20, a final year student of business studies at Delhi University. He loves reading literature and poetry and carries his Kindle on the New Delhi Metro ride to college. Mayank has been working as a trainee editor at Youth Ki Awaaz for the past 7 months. He has decided to vote for a candidate and not a party. The Next Generation of Voters - India Elections 2014. The Next Generation of Voters - India Elections 2014. The Next Generation of Voters - India Elections 2014. The Next Generation of Voters - India Elections 2014. The Next Generation of Voters - India Elections 2014. Shruti, 22, English graduate A recent graduate, Shruti is currently managing user content at Youth Ki Awaaz and is working towards getting legal working rights for sex workers in India. Shruti hopes that at some point a political party will broaden their horizons to include fringe issues like these too in their manifestos. She voted for a candidate and not a party. The Next Generation of Voters - India Elections 2014.

Your browser is out of date. Please update your browser at http://update.microsoft.com

YOU BROKE TIME.COM!

Dear TIME Reader,

As a regular visitor to TIME.com, we are sure you enjoy all the great journalism created by our editors and reporters. Great journalism has great value, and it costs money to make it. One of the main ways we cover our costs is through advertising.

The use of software that blocks ads limits our ability to provide you with the journalism you enjoy. Consider turning your Ad Blocker off so that we can continue to provide the world class journalism you have become accustomed to.

The TIME Team