Ayushmann Khurrana joins hands with ECI to inspire young voters
What's the story
National Award-winning actor Ayushmann Khurrana has partnered with the Election Commission of India (ECI) to encourage youth participation in the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha Elections.
The campaign aims to address the indifference often observed among urban and young voters toward electoral involvement.
The ECI's Director of Voter Education, Santosh Ajmera, praised Khurrana for his voluntary support, highlighting that his message strongly resonates with young audiences.
ECI's stance
'ECI has tried to utilize Khurrana's reach to inspire youngsters'
Khurrana will use his influence to inspire young people to vote, a responsibility that Ajmera describes as crucial for shaping the future.
"Voting day is often considered a holiday with 100s of excuses offered for not voting."
"Ayushmann gives out a beautiful message and a single reason why one should vote," Ajmera said.
"ECI has tried to utilize his potential and reach to inspire...mobilize youngsters toward voting, as an important democratic exercise & duty towards the future."
Khurrana's statement
Khurrana on why it's important to vote
In a statement, Khurrana said, "Every vote counts and every vote is important. Voting is a symbol of empowerment in a democratic nation like ours."
"We are the largest democracy in the world, we are also a country with a huge youth population. So, it is imperative that the youth participates in deciding the future of our nation by casting their vote."
Work-wise, he was last seen in Dream Girl 2.
Enlisting Indian actors
Pankaj Tripathi to Rajkummar Rao: ECI's 'National Icon'
This marks another instance of the ECI enlisting an Indian actor to inspire young voters.
In 2023, Rajkummar Rao was appointed the national icon before the elections.
Prior to that, in August, cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar was honored as the ECI's national icon for voter awareness and education.
Additionally, in 2022, Pankaj Tripathi served as the 'National Icon' for the Election Commission of India.
Voter turnout
Over 960M voters expected in 2024 LS elections
The forthcoming LS elections are expected to see over 960M eligible voters casting their votes.
The Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) is aiming for an unprecedented third term, while opposition parties have united under the banner INDIA to challenge PM Narendra Modi.
In the previous elections, BJP secured a majority in the 543-member Lok Sabha on its own, winning 303 seats with a vote share of 37.3%, while Congress won 52 seats with a vote share of 19.5%.
Election leaders
Key figures have emerged for the upcoming elections
The 2024 elections will be a face-off between PM Modi and the rest.
Key figures include PM Modi, Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh for BJP, and Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi for Congress.
Other notable leaders such as Mamata Banerjee (TMC), Akhilesh Yadav (SP), N Chandrababu Naidu (TDP), Arvind Kejriwal (AAP), Jagan Reddy (YSRC), MK Stalin (DMK), Sharad Pawar (NCP), Uddhav Thackeray (Shiv Sena), Naveen Patnaik (BJD), will spearhead campaigns for their respective parties.