Many young voters said the election results had restored their faith in democracy and they hoped the governments in power, in Delhi and Calcutta, would now prioritise the creation of jobs.

Many young voters said it was a relief that “the secular values of India have triumphed” over attempts to divide communities.

“We expect the concept of a secular India, under threat for some years, will now be restored, just as my faith in a democratic system has been restored on Tuesday,” said Mariyam Qifthiya, 21, who voted in the Kolkata North constituency.

“The unfair treatment of people will hopefully end. It is time for everyone to be treated fairly and not discriminated against. People should feel safe,” said the third-year undergraduate student of animation.

(From left) Rimpa Bhowmick, Mariyam Qifthiya, Tiyasha Goswami and Sourish Dey The Telegraph

“A majority of my friends are not Muslims but from other religions and they have always been very welcoming towards me,” she said.

Her thoughts were echoed by Rimpa Bhowmick, who said the election results showed that common people “do not differentiate on the grounds of religion”.

“The overwhelming majority of one party in Bengal goes to say that people across all religions supported their policies,” said Rimpa.

But the young on Tuesday repeated their demand for jobs.

“If there are no jobs, how will the country prevent its youth from migrating to other nations?” said Sourish De, who is pursuing an MBA and voted in the Barasat constituency.

“While doing BBA, I got an offer from a Boston-based consulting firm to join their Norway office after graduation. I could not accept it because of personal reasons. My career should not suffer for deciding to stay back,” he said.

Tiyasha Goswami, a second-year postgraduation student, said: “Whoever forms the government should think from the perspective of students like us. We will soon be completing our higher studies and we need jobs.”

While the scarcity of jobs remains, many youth sounded grateful for the availability of welfare schemes of the state government that has helped them pursue higher studies.

Rimpa’s father has a small roadside shop where he sells rotis. The 20-year-old is pursuing her Bachelor of Computer Applications from a private college.

“I availed of the student credit card scheme and got a loan of Rs 2,45,000. My college fee is Rs 3,19,000. Had it not been for the scheme I would not have been able to pursue this course,” said Rimpa.

The student credit card scheme enables a student from Bengal to obtain a maximum loan of Rs 10 lakh at a nominal interest rate.

On Tuesday, four undergraduate students were at Bijoygarh Jyotish Ray College, a counting centre for the Jadavpur constituency, celebrating the Trinamool Congress
victory.

All four are recipients of the state’s Swami Vivekananda Merit-cum-Means Scholarship, which ensures a monthly grant of Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500 at the undergraduate level for those whose total family income is less than Rs 2.5 lakh per annum.