Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants famous people to urge citizens to vote, and he is going fully filmi in his appeal.
Modi on Wednesday urged “influencers”, including Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee, Shah Rukh Khan, Ratan Tata and Virat Kohli, to encourage people to vote in the Lok Sabha elections beginning April 11.
In a series of tweets and a blog post, he said voting is among a citizen's prime duties.
'A vote signifies the willingness to contribute to the development trajectory of the nation. By voting, people connect themselves with the country's dreams and aspirations,' he wrote.
Modi called upon 'influencers from all fields, including politics, industry, sports, films and other walks of life' to take the lead in spreading voter awareness.
The Prime minister also reminded people of the perils of not casting their vote. 'Would you want a situation where something happens in the country that you disapprove of and you are forced to think — because I did not go vote that day, this unfortunate situation has arisen and the nation is suffering?' he wrote on his blog on Wednesday.
He shared a link where people can register as voters.
The 2019 elections, Modi said, are special because for the first time those born in the 21st century will be able to cast their votes. 'I hope all eligible youngsters who have not registered to vote will do so and enrich our democracy by voting,' he said.
Tagging several media personalities and institutions, including Vineet Jain, Sanjay Gupta, Aroon Purie, and the Press Trust of India and ANI news agencies, he said the media plays a vital role in a democracy and has a strong influence on people's minds.
The Prime Minister tagged sports personalities, including Sachin Tendulkar, Kohli, MS Dhoni, Saina Nehwal and .V. Sindhu, in separate tweets.
Modi’s most creative tweets, however, were reserved for Bollywood stars. He asked actors Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan, and producer-director Karan Johar to “creatively” join the drive, ending with a play of words on phrase that has become indelibly attached to Karan Johar — “It’s all about loving your family”.
Years after being paired in Andaz Apna Apna, Aamir Khan and Salman starred together again, in Modi’s tweet. The flavour of the season, Gully Boy, and the prime Minister’s pet film dialogue, “how’s the josh”, from the film Uri featured in a tweet as well.
The Prime Minister expressed hope that the upcoming elections will witness the highest ever turnout in the history of Indian elections.Today, Modi, perhaps, had the highest number of posts in the history of his Twitter account.
(With inputs from PTI)
