Chhattisgarh Assembly Polls 2018: Districts are coming up with innovative ideas to make voting inclusive

Even as the political parties in Chhattisgarh enter into campaign mode, there’s another campaign which has been gaining traction since before the poll bugle was sounded in the state — and it has, for some, already won the electors over.

The Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) programme of the Election Commission of India (ECI) has gathered steam in Chhattisgarh, especially in the areas where tribal population is in the majority. Collectors in various districts of the state are building innovative campaigns aimed at maximum voter participation.

Take Jashpur, for instance. A district in north Chhattisgarh which goes to poll in the second phase of the elections on November 20, it is home to about 65 percent tribal population. Priyanka Shukla, collector of the district, has been planning different campaigns for different sets of population almost every day.

“The voting percentage last elections was 78.18 percent,” Shukla told Moneycontrol. “We hope to notch it up by at least 10 percent this time. With that purpose in mind, we launched various campaigns from September 15, the International Democracy Day,” she added.

These campaigns included a 12km morning walk by government officials. The objective, according to Shukla, was to reach out particularly to those polling booths which had registered less than 70 percent polling during the last assembly elections.

“The very first campaign was focused on first-time voters… it was called ‘Hum Tayar Hai.’ Around 3.5 thousand first-time voters participated in that campaign,” Shukla said, adding that the unique aspect of the campaign is that those participating take an oath by standing in a circle. “The idea behind the circle is that nobody is first and nobody is last. Everybody is equal in a circle, there’s no hierarchy. It’s called the ‘Jash Pran Chakra’ and it has now become the soul of our campaign.”

In order to further encourage participation of first-time voters, the district administration also organised a cultural evening, presided over by a band led by a Panchayat Secretary. “The band’s name is Jashpur Jhankar, it’s a government band, and it has composed some songs for the campaign,” Shukla said, adding that the campaign for first-time voters created a positive energy. “So much so that these would-be voters have started helping us with our campaigns now,” Shukla said.

In Kansabel village, the campaign focused on around 5,000 women who took oath not just to vote, but also to bring 10 other voters along with them when they come to vote.

“This also prompted women voters to join our campaign, so we essentially created two groups, of young, first-time voters and women who furthered our campaign across the district,” Shukla said. This prompted the administration to form ‘bitiya tolis’ which then did house-to-house campaigning to motivate voters on International Girl Child’s Day.

Similarly, SVEEP Kisan Mitan focused on the farming population of the district. “The farmers were very motivated. They brought their tractors, and then formed a circle — not just a human circle but also a circle of tractors,” Shukla said.

According to Shukla, the idea is to motivate every section of the voting population by connecting to them personally. “For instance, the 12-km morning walk… our purpose was to make voters realise that if the collector can walk 12 km to come to you personally and ask you to vote, the voter can walk at least till the voting booth.”

Officials said on October 2, around 3.67 lakh people from across the district participated in 741 such ‘charkas’. “That is 55 percent of the voting population of the district,” Shukla said, adding that the administration ensured that every sector officer was involved at every level. “This ensured that a communication channel is opened up with almost every eligible voter of every area,” the collector said.

Establishing a communication channel was important, especially in Jashpur, where the Pathalgadi movement in the state has dominated political discourse for the past few months. The movement posed difficulty for the administration, since the tribal population declared its independence from state and central governments, and considered the Gram Sabha as the highest institution.

“This was a problem, but we ensured that those who instigated this movement were acted against,” Shukla said, referring to the arrests of eight people, including an ex-IAS officer, in May. The accused, according to Shukla, are out on conditional bail, “but they will be sent to jail if they try to spark the movement again.”

As for the Jash Pran campaign in these areas, Shukla said the administration is organising workshops to build the tribal population’s confidence. “We recently conducted a campaign for EVM awareness in one of the most heavily affected villages in the district. The response we received was overwhelming,” Shukla said, adding that the administration has been acting to ensure that the election is carried out in a peaceful manner.

Similar to Jashpur, Raigarh district has also been engaged in various innovative drives to motivate and attract voters. The district’s social media account has been posting the picture of one voter each day with the voters’ opinion on why voting is important, and why he/she is going to vote.

The administration has also established a WhatsApp channel through which the voter, after voting, can send a selfie and receive a certificate of appreciation from the district electoral officer.

“We have been doing a campaign by the name of ‘Awaaz Zaroori Hai’ and trying to explain people that their vote is their voice. They should use it to strengthen democracy,” Shammi Abidi, the collector of Raigarh told Moneycontrol. “We have been organising various programmes under it to register new voters and to further the cause of voter awareness,” she added.

These are only two of the many districts adopting innovative methods to increase voter awareness, participation and inclusivity. Shukla now plans to write hand-written letters and compose WhatsApp messages motivating voters to come out in large numbers. “We have 28 electors in our district who are 100 plus, and we are focusing on them too. Plus we are focusing on differently-abled voters,” Shukla said, adding that the focus has always been towards inclusivity.

“If you develop a bond with the people of Chhattisgarh, they will do anything for you,” Shukla said.