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Haryana to rope in sportspersons to raise voter awareness
To create awareness and motivate the masses to participate in the electoral process, popular public figures like sportspersons will be designated as district icons ahead of May 25 Lok Sabha elections in Haryana, chief electoral officer (CEO) Anurag Agarwal said.
With the aim of creating awareness and motivating the masses to participate in the electoral process, popular public figures like sportspersons will be designated as district icons ahead of May 25 Lok Sabha elections in Haryana, chief electoral officer (CEO) Anurag Agarwal said.
He said that this unique effort that has been finalised on Friday is initiated on the similar lines of the initiative taken by the Election Commission (EC) by designating actor Rajkummar Rao as a national icon.
Agarwal said all deputy commissioners-cum district election officers have been directed to designate icons in their respective districts.
The CEO said that the voters’ turnout in Haryana was higher than the national average in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
“However, this time our goal is to take it (voting percentage) up to 75%,” he said.
Agarwal said that Palak, the gold medallist in shooting (Asian Games 2023), has been designated as icon for Jhajjar district, Asian Games bronze medallist in shooting Adarsh Singh will be icon for Faridabad district.
The silver medal winner in wrestling at the world championship, Sonam Malik has been assigned Sonepat district, Olympic hockey player Surender Kumar (Kurukshetra district) and Muskan, the first-place winner in singing at the National Youth Festival have been designated as icons of Fatehabad district.
The CEO urged the DCs of other districts to designate election icons in their respective districts. He said that this year, the EC has made “Chunav ka Parv - Desh ka Garv” the slogan for Lok Sabha elections so that citizens participate enthusiastically in the elections.
He appealed to the youth across the state, aged 18-19, who will vote for the first time, saying that when the youth engage with the electoral process, they will understand the power of democracy and the importance of their vote.
“Therefore, youth should not miss this opportunity because the festival of democracy comes once in five years,” said the CEO.
