It started with the Iraqi journalist throwing a shoe at George Bush and now Indians are using this trick to oust the unwanted politicians.

1. Delhi Journalist, Jarnail Singh hurled a shoe at Chidambaram.

2. A retired school teacher threw a shoe at Navin Jindal.

It appears that the days of garlanding the politicians are over. Welcome to the shoeland!!!!

Sitting here in my apartment near Washington, DC sipping tea and reading online newspapers on a rainy Saturday morning, Ican hear the buzz of Indian elections.

In this article for Washington Post, Emily Wax, reported that the Mumbai terrorist attacks have had a definite and deep impact on the psyche of young people in India. The middle-class 20-somethings who previously spent their time in aimless activities are now gearing up for the upcoming elections by using new communication technologies to organize and urge their friends to vote.

“Politics” has become the new mantra for the young in the land of software engineers and doctors. Young India’s passions have changed and instead of talking about bollywood and cricket they are now talking of politics, writes Saritha Rai in Global Post.

The 200 million Indian youth is appearing to be a formidable vote bank for Indian politicians. Politicians have also taken notice of this recent development and are overhauling their images and building an online presence to gel with young crowd.

There are several problems that plague Indian society such as hunger, poverty, inadequate health care, unemployment, lack of education, just to name a few. But what are the issues that young Indians really care about? Will Indian youth really emerge as the deciding factor in these elections? We will have to wait and watch….

This story in AsiaOne digital reported that social media will play an active role in Indian elections this year. New electronic machines will be used for voting and there is an online voter registration campaign. Facebook, YouTube and blogs all of them will be used for campaigning. Political parties are sending SMS updates to voters.

Of the 700 million voters, 100 million youth between the 18 - 24 years will be first time voters. It would be an interesting election.