Rope in known faces as poll icons: Anurag Agarwal

Chandigarh, April 5

To create awareness and motivate the masses to participate in the electoral process, popular public figures like sportspersons have been designated as district icons ahead of the elections.

Slogan for elections

This year, the EC has made “Chunav ka Parv, Desh ka Garv” the slogan for the Lok Sabha elections so that citizens participate enthusiastically. All DCs-cum-District Election Officers have been directed to designate icons in their respective districts. Anurag Agarwal, Chief Electoral Officer

Chief Electoral Officer Anurag Agarwal said the unique effort finalised today was initiated on similar lines of the initiative taken by the Election Commission (EC) by designating actor Rajkummar Rao as a national icon. He said all DCs-cum-District Election Officers had been directed to designate icons in their respective districts.

The voter turnout in Haryana was higher than the national average in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. However, this time the goal was to take it up to 75 per cent, he said.

Icons had been designated for various districts, including Palak, gold medallist in shooting at the Asian Games 2023, for Jhajjar district; Adarsh Singh, bronze medallist in shooting at the 19th Asian Games, for Faridabad district; Suman Devi, the third-place winner in the 19th Senior Para Powerlifting Championship; and the player from the state team in the National School Games held in Bhopal, Yashika, for Panipat district; and the silver medallist in shooting at the 19th Asian Games, Sarabjot Singh, for Ambala district.

Similarly, the silver medallist in wrestling at the World Championship, Sonam Malik, for Sonepat district, Olympic hockey player Surender Kumar for Kurukshetra district, and the first-place winner in singing at the National Youth Festival, Muskan, for Fatehabad district have been designated as icons.