Initially, when I came across this campaign by a vegetarian restaurant chain spread across Bangalore, which said that voters can avail a free coffee from any of its outlets, I suspected that this must be a campaign run by any of the three ruling parties contesting for the Assembly elections in Karnataka. However, after further investigation, I was both happy and surprised to know that this was a campaign which was run simply to make people exercise their democratic powers that amusingly our country’s constitution has already bestowed us with!
Image Credit: Twitter.com
Well, that’s not all; a certain restaurant in the heart of Bengaluru also had the offer of treating young voters with a delicious dosa, if they cast their vote. There were others who had a discount on the bill for those who could “show their ink” as proof! But, there’s more to it than just coffee and dosa. While some cafes provided free data to young voters, some others let them have photocopies for free! Well, we all remember how much we spent on photocopies during our college days don’t we? Wait, the best is yet to come! Certain schools under the KAMS (Karnataka Associated Management of English-medium Schools) had come up with the weirdest offer of all! According to their offer, students whose parents would cast their votes would be awarded 2 marks for each vote and a maximum of 4 marks for the academic year 2018-19. Can you even beat that?
ನಿಮ್ಮ ಮತ ಚಲಾಯಿಸಿ! #ಕರ್ನಾಟಕಚುನಾವಣೆ2018 pic.twitter.com/vpnkCjxEWl
— Anil Kumble (@anilkumble1074) May 12, 2018
Now, let us look into the result of all these efforts. As facts go, Bengaluru city recorded a voter turnout of approximately 70% this year, as opposed to the 57% turnout in 2013. Well, I agree and you would too, that we all love the lure of getting things for “free”. And we understand this very well, that all these campaigns and offers were rolled out keeping in mind Karnataka’s bad reputation in terms of poor voter turnouts. But isn’t it funny that we need incentives and offers and a cup of free coffee to push us to do something that is supposed to be our democratic right?
Image Credit: indianfolk.com
People have since long complained about voters not turning out in Karnataka elections and have tried all sorts of campaigns and engaged celebrities to urge people. But how long would we use such methods? Did we even try to find out the reason why the people of the city (mostly the youth) are least interested in casting votes? Yes, Karnataka having a good density of coffee-loving people, such campaigns are very well thought out as far as they are thought of as a marketing strategy. But are we really selling votes here? Well, we did succeed in bringing up the percentage of turnouts using all methods possible. But is it time to rejoice yet?
I believe, the day people would feel responsible enough to cast their vote without any stimulus at all, that would truly be the day of victory!
Read Also: Government Wades Into Controversy By Engaging In Diet Politics
