Excitement in Uttarakhand ahead of National Voter's Day on Jan 25

DEHRADUN: The upcoming polls in the state might witness a never-seen-before voter turnout, as the Uttarakhand election authorities are not leaving any stone unturned to spread awareness about the importance of voting ahead of the polls and the National Voter’s Day on January 25-Wednesday. From voter-express vans to be flagged off to spread awareness and community mobilization, to a vote-for-run event and pledges to vote to be taken on the day, the district election office is gearing up to hold the occasion with utmost dedication.

Radha Raturi, "chief electoral officer has already given instructions for the day stating that, at 11 am, all the schools, educational institutes and government departments will hold activities related to the National Voter’s Day. As per expectation of the chief election commissioner of India, Nasim Zaidi, all the youth above 18 years of age should get registered in the electoral rolls and participation in voting must be encouraged, which is why on the day- debates, mock-polls, painting, quiz competitions will be organised”

Raturi also has given instructions to popularise- the theme of the day- "Empowering young and future voters". The sports department is also gearing up to organise awareness activity- "Vote-for-run" on the day in the heart of the city to spread awareness.

Meanwhile, the nodal officer, Systematic Voters' Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP),

Shikhar Saxena

told TOI, "In the educational institutes and government offices, all will be taking a pledge to vote on the National Voter Day. We have been doing a lot of awareness programmes and on the National Voter’s Day, two voter express vans with cultural teams of youngsters will be flagged off by the CEO in the state capita from the secretariat. These vans will cover the entire district doing

Nukkad-Nataks

(Stree-plays) and spreading awareness about the need to vote, motivational and informatory messages will be on display. Public announcement system will be also made use of for the community mobilisation for voting”

Last week, an app 'Dehradun Votes' was also launched which will be available for downloads on the playstore from January 25, it has co-ordinates of the polling booths in the district in order to help voters reach these points without any problems.

Raman Walia, an MNC professional has penned catchy limericks on the election scenario in the state which he is hoping will catch the attention of youngsters and prompt them to vote. One of which reads- "Some cry, Namo only cares for loaded few. Others claim, Raga doesn't have a clue. While Raga builds castles on a 'khaat'. And Namo blabbers 'Mann Ki Baat'.The 'Janta' stands in an endless queue for what's permanently overdue!!(sic). “If my passion for writing can be put to some good use, I would love that” said Walia, who wants the limericks penned by him to inspire the youth to vote.

The polling per cent in the 2002 assembly elections in Uttarakhand was 54.34 per cent, which rose to 59.42 in the 2007 polls. In 2012, 67.22 per cent polling was recorded in the hill state. These activities on the National Voter’s Day intend to spiral the figure upwards to a great extent and a higher voter turnout can be expected in assembly elections this time.