Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Election Commission Teams Up with IPL for Voter Awareness Drive

Mumbai: With the Indian Premier League (IPL) matches in full swing, the Office of the Returning Officer (EC) has come up with a unique way to link matches with election voting. The commission has set a target of at least 75 percent polling in Maharashtra. As part of that, a large number of voters will be called upon through matches.  

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Additional Chief Electoral Officer of the state Kiran Kulkarni told Lokmat on Wednesday. "We have spoken to the IPL organizers as well as the Mumbai Cricket Association. Although the matches will be held in Mumbai, they are watched all over the state and the country. With this in mind, these matches can be used to increase vote share. The plan is to show advertisements urging people to come in large numbers to vote, install screens in stadiums, and set up selfie points. 

Will try booth-wise
The commission has collected data on which booths saw low turnout in the 2019 elections. Officers and staff are going door-to-door in the vicinity of these booths and urging them to vote. The commission is taking the help of the Indian Medical Association to urge doctors to vote. 

The challenge of connected holidays     
In the five-phase elections in Maharashtra, only May 7 (Tuesday) is the only date that there is no holiday attached to it, all the other four dates are Friday or Monday. So, Saturday and Sunday holidays will be added. This is likely to reduce the vote share.   

TV serials to appeal
The commission has mooted the idea of increasing vote share through popular Hindi and Marathi TV serials on various channels. We have also held discussions with senior officials of the four channels in this regard. There is an attempt to increase the oral vote share of popular characters. Three such scripts have come to the commission for approval.