Guwahati, April 5: They may be first-time voters, but they know their politics.

Students of Guwahati’s Cotton College, which is as much a cradle of politicians as the breeding ground of brilliant professionals, are engaged in the usual debate about the importance of voting and whether the country deserves the politicians it gets.

The cynicism of these students is evident in every remark, casual or serious, during the campus adda sessions on the impending Lok Sabha poll. Economics student Biplab Das will be voting for the first time, but he speaks with the confidence of somebody who has seen many an election. “Every candidate will now promise to create a river where there is none,” he says.

Most students of the college intend to vote, but bemoan the paucity of deserving candidates. One brands politicians as “birds of the same feather”, while another says electioneering is all about making the same old “false promises” to the electorate.

Anirban Baishya, a first-year BA student majoring in political science, describes discussions on politics as both stimulating and depressing. “With the poll approaching, our classroom has turned into a place for political adda sessions. We discuss political leaders and their activities, but the sad part is that there is no candidate fit for the job.”

In Anirban’s book, not even Bhupen Hazarika is capable of doing a good job as a representative of Assam in Parliament. “We see him as a singer, not a politician,” he says of the culture icon, whose previous stint in politics was as an Independent MLA in the late sixties.

Hazarika is the BJP nominee for the Guwahati seat.

Another Cottonian, Mit Choudhury, is scathing in his criticism of the candidates for the 14 Lok Sabha seats of Assam. “Voting is a matter of selecting the best from among the worst.”

Mit attributes his pessimism to the trend across the country. “Our parents were fortunate enough to get a choice of good people to elect to the seat of power. The present crop of politicians in Assam and elsewhere does not have credibility.”

Biplab applies the law of diminishing utility to politicians. “The more people vote for them, the more their commitment and service to the people diminish. Power intoxicates them. The elections will be a futile exercise.”

Amid the overriding pessimism, a few students talk of hope. “Politics has become dirty and politicians corrupt, but we cannot escape them because we are a part of the system. Instead of complaining, the voters must choose the good and bring about a change,” says Gautam Talukdar, who stays at the Swahid Ranjit Borpujari Hostel.

Chemistry student Arindom Bhuyan does not like the trend of trivialising the electoral process. “India, the largest democracy in the world, is going to the hustings. It is a big moment, an opportunity for everyone to elect the right candidates. I do not endorse the view that elections are an exercise in futility,” he adds.