Election 2014, it appears, is not only about campaigning and pressing the button against the party symbol of choice. It also seems to be about shaking legs or shooting video to create voter awareness, as the Election Commission of India has come to believe.
On Friday, the Returning Officer, Coimbatore, and Collector Archana Patnaik was short-listing short films at the Rathinam Group of Institutions to be sent to the Chief Electoral Officer, Tamil Nadu. The college and the Election Commission had come together to encourage people to produce short films of 90-second duration to create awareness among voters.
R. Manickam, CEO, Rathinam Group of Institutions, says that the college, which coordinated the short film competition, was able to attract 35 entries from across the State from people from all walks of life. Of those, the institution people along with the Collector, Ms. Patnaik, were able to shortlist five films. The Collector will take those films to Chennai for the CEO’s approval. The approved film will be screened in cinemas across the State. The topic for the competition was ‘Creating awareness on voting’.
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As part of the event, the district election machinery had coordinated a flash mob event near the VOC Park area on Friday evening. Trainee dancers from Footloose – Edwin’s Dance School danced to create awareness among road users, bystanders and those who were out shopping in the area.
An officer says that it was the third event the district election machinery had conducted using the dancers. The first two flash mob events were at the two shopping malls in the city.
The dancers also held a banner saying ‘Vote Must! Vote Right!’.
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The officer says that the awareness events are part of the ‘Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation’ programme of the Election Commission of India.
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About 1,000 women participated in a walkathon organised by the Indian Women Network here on Friday to create awareness on the right to vote.
District Collector Archana Patnaik flagged off the walkathon and the theme was “Making Your Vote Count”. Confederation of Indian Industry’s (CII) The Indian Women Network had organised a human chain earlier to create awareness on the right to vote.
The participants at the walkathon included members of the CII and the Indian Women Network and students.
S. Malarvizhi, convenor of the Network, Coimbatore, has said in a press release that the participants at the walkathon interacted with the public on the walkers’ path and carried placards on the importance of voting. The Network has put up posters across the city as part of the awareness campaign. The students took a vow that they would cast their vote in the Lok Sabha elections.