Tamil Nadu polls: Chennai Corporation reaches out to young voters online

With Assembly polls approaching and colleges yet to reopen due to Covid-19 restrictions, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has taken to the virtual route to reach out to youngsters on the importance of participating in elections and ensuring that the process remains ethical.

The GCC conducted the first such session named OPEN (Online Participation of Electoral Network) last week in which 350 students from the prestigious Stella Maris College here participated. The civic body is reaching out to more colleges and institutions to conduct such sessions online in order to encourage young students to participate in the democratic exercise.

Tamil Nadu is to face its most-crucial Assembly elections in recent times in April-May this year. Over 40 lakh people are eligible to exercise their franchise this election in Chennai district. The sessions have been made “interesting” and “interactive” for students who participate with PowerPoint presentations.

“We have taken efforts to ensure that students do not get bored. We tell them the importance of participative, and ethical elections. We also give them examples of how a single vote can make a difference. Basically, the effort is to impress upon the youngsters to get them out of their homes and vote,” J Meghanath Reddy, Deputy Commissioner, GCC (Revenue and Finance), told DH.

The youngsters are also taught how to enroll themselves and are asked to participate in a quiz on elections. Reddy said the GCC took to the virtual mode not just because colleges are closed but also because students are well-versed with technology as they are already attending classes online.

“The response from the student community has so far been good. Students are aware of their rights and our effort is to make them aware more of our election process and the need for elections to be ethical. We plan to conduct three sessions a week for the next few months,” Reddy said, adding that the GCC was planning to hold awareness sessions for physically challenged and others.

Tamil Nadu is an expense-sensitive state that witnesses rampant use of money power during votes. Elections to three Assembly segments and one parliamentary constituency were rescinded in 2016, 2017, and 2019 respectively due to allegations of cash for votes.