 "Shivaraj N, a sub-inspector in Tamil Nadu police votes at a polling station, a day ahead of the first phase of the election, in Tiruvannamalai Photo: Reuters")
Thanks to India Inc. and various arms of the government, the message that the election commission (EC) wants you to hear will now be delivered loud and clear. Whether you are in the sky on-board an aircraft, boarding a train at any railway station, getting fuel for your car or watching your favourite cricket team in action, you will be asked to exercise your franchise in the elections starting Friday.
About 297 million eligible voters did not turn up at polling booths in the 2019 general elections, and the poll panel doesn’t want a repetition.
And for this, the EC has roped in scores of private and public sector companies to help spread the word, and bring eligible voters to the voting booths.
The companies that have joined the bandwagon to woo the voters include Tata Group, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL), and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL), all public and private sector banks through the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA), Indian Premier League teams through BCCI, aviation companies like Indigo, ride-hailing service Rapido, Spotify India, and several others.
BCCI: Using IPL franchise players to appeal to voters
In Tamil Nadu, which is voting on Friday, Rapido is offering free rides to people to cast their votes in cities like Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchirappalli, and Salem.
“Rapido has collaborated with the Tamil Nadu State Election Commission for this initiative to offer free bike taxi rides to voters on election day. As an active proponent of driving strong democracy, we recognise the importance of every single vote and hence aim to increase the voter turnout,” said a Rapido official in response to queries from Business Standard.
Tata Group is sharing the election commission messages with its employees. Google India is expected to come out with a doodle, while Facebook and Instagram are sharing alerts with their users.
Spotify India too has chipped by launching the “Play Your Part” campaign. According to sources, ECI is guiding these private companies in spreading the right message to voters.
Airlines like Indigo are also sending across the same message through on-board messages on its flights.
Meanwhile, oil marketing companies, Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL), are spreading messages through around 16,000 fuel outlets across the country.
The idea is to ensure that the appeal to voters to exercise their democratic right to vote reaches every nook and cranny of the country, especially in select states having lower voter turnouts.
The election commission is conducting this voter outreach through its SVEEP (Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation) programme.
The 11 focus states are Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, NCT of Delhi, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Telangana, Gujarat, Punjab, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, and Jharkhand, where voter turnout was lower than the national average of 67.4 per cent in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. In addition to the above, a memorandum of understanding has also been signed with Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) and Department of Post to promote voter education through their extensive network.
While IBA, through its members, is spreading messages through websites and ATMs to attract voters, the postal department will affix a special cancellation stamp (bearing voter education messages) on the postal articles.
The ECI is also collaborating with BCCI through which players of the IPL franchises such as Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians, Lucknow SuperGiants, Delhi Capitals, Kolkata Knight Riders, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Punjab Kings, Rajasthan Royals, Gujarat Titans, and Royal Challengers Bangalore are encouraging fans to vote.
Messages are being displayed on screens during matches.
