Tejasvi Surya on youth voting: ‘Diehard optimist’ that political awareness will drive turnout

New business data points to the fact that Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya stated he stays a "diehard optimist" that growing political awareness among the youth will translate into elevated voter turnout, arguing that voting stays the one sure-shot way for citizens in a democracy to make their voices heard.

Speaking at the Moneycontrol Startup Conclave 2026 in Bengaluru on Saturday, Surya stated young people were registering to vote "in a big way" and would eventually turn up in large numbers at the polls. That stated, he stated it was too early to draw conclusions and that the trend would become clearer in the Karnataka elections of 2028 and the Lok Sabha elections of 2029.

Surya made the remarks during a wider conversation with Hosakote MLA and Karnataka State Electronics Development Corporation Chairman Sharath Kumar Bache Gowda on how politics is adapting to a younger generation.

Surya additionally questioned prevailing notions of culture, arguing that it had been mistakenly equated with religiosity rather than civic conduct. Culture, he stated, essentially meant refinement, citing examples such as keeping temples, metro stations and bus stops clean and arriving on time for programmes.

He stated a person was often considered cultured merely for visiting temples frequently while disregarding basic civic responsibilities, such as littering public spaces. He additionally stated such notions of Bharatiyata and culture needed a rethink.

Surya welcomed a generational shift away from deference to hierarchy and age towards a greater emphasis on merit and talent.

Gowda, for his part, stated political resilience meant adapting to changing modes of communication. He described politicians as a breed that adjusts and reinvents itself to stay relevant, citing the Prime Minister's recent interactions with children as an example of a distinctly younger, more informal style of address.

He stated the era of formal honorifics prefacing references to leaders was giving way to plainer, more direct forms of address, and that politicians had to be prepared for that shift.