PM Modi has upped the gears for 2019 elections and started a #VoteKar twitter campaign on Sunday in which he has reached out to popular celebrities, urging them to ask their followers to cast their votes in high numbers in the 2019 General Elections, beginning April 19.
“My fellow Indians, The time has come to say- #VoteKar. In the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, ensure that you as well as your family and friends turn out in record numbers. Your doing so will have a positive impact on the nation’s future,” he tweeted.
To inspire people from different regions, tastes, interests, backgrounds, PM Modi carpet- bombed the twitter surface in making 16 such appeals in less than half an hour.
Modi tagged actors Anupam Kher, Kabir Bedi, Shekhar Kapur, Hrithik Roshan, Madhavan, Madhuri Dixit, Ajay Devgan, Anil Kapoor, Rajkumar Rao, Parineeti Chopra, Sidharth Malhotra, Sushant Singh Rajput, Kartik Aaryan, Kriti Sanon; producers and directors Madhur Bhandarkar, Viven Ranjan Agnihotri and Ekta Kapoor from the film industry; and cricketers Shikhar Dhawan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashwin Ravichandran, athlete Hima Das, gymnast Dipa Karmakar and wrestler Sakshi Malik from the sporting fraternity.
“My appeal to them” appeals the PM, “can you tell fellow Indians to vote in large numbers in the upcoming elections? #VoteKar”
“If you are undertaking any innovative voter awareness campaign, do share details using #VoteKar. Together, we will ensure maximum Indians exercise their franchise,” he said on Twitter.
India has 16 general elections since 1951. The numbers of eligible votes rose from 17.3 crores to 83.40 crores in 2014. Whereas the voter turnout was 45.7% in 1951, the lowest till date, it rose to 55.88% in 1992. However, it touched its highest in 2014 elections to 66.3%, perhaps the ‘Modi Wave’ drew more voters to exercise their voting rights.
Not only the number of voters, the number of political parties rose from 15 in 1957 elections to 465 in 2014. Incidentally, there are more than 2000 registered parties in India.
