To create awareness and motivate the masses to participate in the electoral process, popular public figures like sportspersons have been designated as ‘district icons’ for the general elections for 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana on May 25.

Haryana’s Chief Electoral Officer Anurag Agarwal Friday said that this effort has been initiated on similar lines to the EC appoints prominent Indians as national icons to motivate voters to participate in elections. Agarwal said that all Deputy Commissoners-cum-District Election Officers had been directed to designate icons in their respective districts.

He said that the voter turnout in Haryana at 70 per cent was higher than the national average in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. However, this time our goal is to take it up to 75 per cent.

Agarwal said that icons have been designated for various districts, including the gold medalist in shooting at Asian Games 2023 Palak for Jhajjar district, the bronze medalist in shooting at the Asian Games Adarsh Singh for Faridabad district, silver medalist in shooting at the Asian Games Sarabjot Singh for Ambala district. Similarly, the silver medalist in wrestling at the World Championship Sonam Malik for Sonipat district while Olympic hockey player Surender Kumar has been designated icon for Kurukshetra district.

Agarwal said that this year, the Election Commission of India has made “Chunav ka Parv – Desh ka Garv” the slogan for Lok Sabha elections so that citizens participate enthusiastically in the elections. He appealed to the youth across the state, aged 18-19, who will vote for the first time, saying that when the youth engage with the electoral process, they will understand the power of democracy and the importance of their vote.

Therefore, youth should not miss this opportunity because the festival of democracy comes once in five years, he said.