Vintage cars shore up election fever in Mysuru

Deputy Commissioner of Mysuru K.V. Rajendra said the vintage and classic car rally helped create awareness of the importance of voting among citizens

A vintage and classic car rally was organised by the District SVEEP Committee in Mysuru to shore up voter awareness, on April 6, 2024. | Photo Credit: M.A. Sriram

The heritage city of Mysuru witnessed a slice of vintage and the classics as a collection of automobiles belonging to a bygone era plied through the main roads to create voter awareness, on April 6.

Adding a dash of glamour and spicing up the voter awareness campaign was the vintage and classic car rally, which was organised by the District SVEEP Committee and was flagged off by Deputy Commissioner of Mysuru K.V. Rajendra.

The rally commenced from Town Hall, which is one of the grand monuments of Mysuru whose skyline is dotted with over 130 notified heritage structures. Mr. Rajendra said it was in the fitness of things that cars over 60 years old were part of the voter awareness rally ahead of an election whose history spans nearly 75 years.

The car rally passed through Devaraja Urs Road and Sayyaji Rao Road before terminating at Town Hall.   

The District SVEEP Committee members said, apart from vintage and classic cars, about 20 sarots, a version of tongas that are intrinsically linked with Mysuru heritage, took part in the rally.

20 sarots, that are a variant of tongas, took part in the voter awareness drive organised by District SVEEP Committee in Mysuru on April 6, 2024. | Photo Credit: M.A. Sriram

Mr. Rajendra said the vintage and classic car rally has shored up the festive spirit of the election, and has helped create awareness of the importance of voting among citizens. Apart from the car rally, the SVEEP committee had conceived flash mob, street plays and other outreach programmes to reach out to voters and encourage them to exercise their franchise without fail.

In the 2019 elections, the voting percentage in Mysuru was 70. The district administration is striving to increase this number.

District SVEEP Committee president K.M. Gayatri, Superintendent of Police Seema Latkar, and Mysuru City Corporation Commissioner N.N. Madhu participated in the event.

Vintage versus classic cars

Gopi Kiran K., president of Mysore Vintage and Classic Cars Club, said 12 cars took part in the event of which a few qualified to be vintage cars that are at least 50 years old while the remaining qualified as classic cars that are 30 to 40 years old.

The rally featured a 1962 Fiat 1100 Super Select, 1962 Volkswagen Beetle, a 1962 Standard Herald, a 1970 Fiat 500, 1971 Land Rover Series 3 Pickup, 1972 Premier President, and a 1990 Contessa, among others.

The club was taking part in such events since the last eight years and had organised a similar rally before the Assembly elections in May 2023, besides shoring up the festive atmosphere during Dasara.