Jalandhar: Spreading voter awareness through satires, jokes

Jalandhar, May 27

The Jalandhar administration has launched an innovative voter awareness campaign featuring a live comedy show by renowned stand-up comedian Inder Sahni ahead of the June 1 Lok Sabha elections. The event took place at IVY World School, attracting over 500 college students.

Inder Sahni’s performance blended humour with a powerful message about the importance of voting. Through his jokes, Sahni not only entertained the audience but also emphasised the civic duty of casting a vote. His engaging approach resonated with the young crowd, creating an atmosphere of both laughter and reflection.

Through his jokes and satires, Sahni highlighted the discounts available at hotels, restaurants, malls and Wonderland for electorates who cast their votes on June 1, encouraging civic participation with a touch of humour and incentive. He lauded the administration’s efforts to carry out this mammoth exercise by roping in several business establishments in the electoral process.

Addressing the gathering, Deputy Commissioner Himanshu Aggarwal said the live comedy show was part of the administration’s efforts to engage the youth in the electoral process. He highlighted the administration’s goal of achieving over 70 per cent voter turnout and outlined various initiatives to reach this target.

The event also featured a band performance by students from IVY World School, which received enthusiastic applause. Musicians played popular tunes, captivating the audience and adding to the festive spirit of the occasion.

Additionally, a special jingle titled “Jalandhar Ek Gal Note Kro Ek June Nu Tuci Vote Kro” was launched. The jingle, designed to motivate voters, was performed live by the school’s bhangra team.

Election Observers, including General Observer J Meghantha Reddy, Police Observer Satish Kumar, and Expenditure Observer Madhav Deshmukh, attended the event.

Ram Lalla posters come up

Jalandhar: Raising a pitch in the last five days, especially among core Hindu voters, the BJP has put up posters across Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur constituencies with a message “Jo Ram ko laye hain, hum unko layenge”. The posters put up at various locations in the city and colonies of the city do not carry any photograph or even name of the candidate. Instead, these simply carry the photographs of Ram Lalla clicked from Ram Temple in Ayodhya and are shown to have been put up by some local temple committees. In Jalandhar, BJP candidate Sushil Rinku has already organised a programme with bhajan singer Kanhaiya Mittal, whose lyrics have been put up on the posters. The same lyrics are being used in various events and election rallies being organised by Rinku.

Ensure level playing field for all candidates: Observers

Jalandhar: Special police observer Deepak Mishra and special expenditure observer for Punjab BR Balakrishnan have asked officials to perform their election duty as a ‘duty to the nation’ and ensure level playing field for all candidates on June 1.

A marathon meeting was held with police observer Satish Kumar, general observer J Meghanath Reddy, expenditure observe Madhav Deshmuk, Deputy Commissioner-cum-DEO Himanshu Aggarwal, Police Commissioner Rahul S and SSP Ankur Gupta.

Special expenditure observer BR Balakrishnan asked the assistant expenditure observers to keep an eye on banking and finance corporation transactions. The lead bank manager has been asked to submit suspicious bank transactions on a daily basis. He said social media accounts of candidates should be checked on a regular basis.

DEO Aggarwal told the special observers that the district administration had made adequate arrangements for free and fair elections as more than 9,300 polling personnel have been trained for smooth elections on June 1.

Police Commissioner Rahul S and Jalandhar Rural SSP Ankur Gupta said elaborate security arrangements had been made for peaceful polling.