From rangolis to bike rallies, SVEEP Committee goes the extra mile to celebrate Festival of Democracy

Mysore/Mysuru: While citizens are busy analysing the trends of voting in this phase, the District SVEEP (Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation) Committee has already been working hard to maintain or increase the current voter turnout.

The Committee has gone the extra mile to make voting experience as appealing and joyous for voters as possible, as is evidenced by unique initiatives with rangolis, pink booths, tribal booths and bike rallies to grab the attention of the voters and coax them to exercise their franchise on May 10.

Yesterday, the Nanjangud Taluk SVEEP Committee created awareness of voting in a special way by giving the message of compulsory voting to a newly-wed couple at Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Bhavan. Probably, this is the first such initiative in Mysuru to attract a specific target group of people.

The bridegroom from Bidaragoodu and bride from Sindhuvalli were surprised as the election officers entered the marriage hall with a selfie point that gave a message of voting without fail on May 10.

The couple posed for a photo at the selfie point, showing their index finger, on which the indelible ink will be applied on the day of voting. The officials asked the bride and the bridegroom to share the selfies widely on social media with their friends and family members to spread the message of mandatory voting.

Officials said that selfie craze was prevalent amongst the youth and hoped this effort would be instrumental in motivating the young voters to exercise their franchise enthusiastically in the ensuing Assembly elections. At the wedding, even the family members were happy to note that their special occasion was used to convey a special message.

Officers said this selfie point would not only provide a new place to the people for getting their picture clicked but would also disseminate the message of voting to them. “We will extend the initiative to Mysuru city also and set up such selfie points at weddings so that people coming there could use it aptly for clicking their pictures. Weddings in all the nine Zones of the Mysuru City Corporation will be covered,” officers said.