In Ahmednagar, children write to their parents asking them to vote in Lok Sabha elections

“We want to increase voter turnout and hence have involved the education department, private schools, and colleges urging them to make parents take an oath that they will vote. Rallies have been held especially in villages and students have written personal letters to their parents,” Salimath told The Indian Express.

The Ahmednagar and Shirdi Lok Sabha seats go to polls on May 13. In Ahmednagar and Shirdi, there are 36.59 lakh registered voters, up from 34.38 lakh since the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. According to data, the voter turnout was 64.40 per cent in that year.

Apart from convincing parents to vote, the Ahmednagar district collectorate has announced a slew of other measures to encourage citizens to come out and vote.

A Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation, better known as SVEEP, committee has also been set up to ensure high voter turnout in the Ahmednagar and Shirdi Lok Sabha seats under the Ahmednagar district. A compulsory display of flex boards across 500 petrol pump retail outlets appealing to citizens to vote is also among the decisions taken to boost turnout.

Competitions will be also held to design the perfect flex boards, placards and posters which can be displayed at prominent locations in the cities. As many as 45 winners will be announced, and schools have been encouraged to send in their entries.

Monday is the last day for candidates to withdraw nomination forms and according to the district collector, 55 candidates have submitted their documents to contest the Lok Sabha election 2024. There are 36 candidates from the Ahmednagar Lok Sabha seat and 22 from the Shirdi parliamentary constituency.