The Election Commission (EC) is going all out to launch a branding exercise by roping in sports celebrities to ensure high voter turnout, especially of youth and women, in the world’s largest democracy.
The new female ‘national icons’ pressed into service this year are Olympic medallists Saina Nehwal (badminton) and M.C. Mary Kom (boxing).
Nehwal and Kom are the first female national icons to support the EC. They join existing icons, namely, former President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam and Indian cricket captain, M. S. Dhoni, the Commission said in a release.
The two sportswomen have been roped in as part of the EC’s strategy to bridge the ‘noticeable gap’ in youth participation and also the gender gap in electoral participation in several areas.
Promotional messages from these two icons are being sent in audio-visual formats, which have been organised by the Chief Electoral Officers of Andhra Pradesh and Manipur, with collaboration from Doordarshan, the EC said in a release.
For starters, the material will be used in the Gujarat Assembly polls, which will have the first phase of polling on December 13, after which it will be sent out to all States and Union territories in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections in 2014.