Non-news channels urges young India to vote!

The election season has just begun in India and the first and foremost thought that comes to our mind in connection with this season is 'our right to vote'. Vote of each and every individual right from a commoner to celebrities, is valuable. They are empowered to exercise their right and elect the deserving candidate for all round progress of the country. Today, though most are aware of their rights to vote there are few, especially the youth, who need to understand the concept of voting and keeping this in mind our television channels have taken a step ahead to create awareness amongst their audience and brief them about their duties and help them realize how this powerful tool can contribute towards the betterment of our society.

Hindi GEC's Zee TV and Star Plus are creating awareness amongst their viewers by integrating election tracks in their shows. Zee TV has integrated the ‘Power of 49’ angle in three of its shows. Doli Armaanon Ki will show Urmi fighting for justice and giving out the message of ‘Power of 49’ and also ensure that we vote for that politician who understands his/her supporters. The protagonist will showcase how precious a woman’s vote can be in today’s times.  In Ek Mutthi Aasman, Kamla Bai will be seen setting an example of how women run the society and have a role to play in deciding politics of this country, and also how women today have a 49% say in deciding who would be the next ruling party of India. Whereas in Sapney Suhane Ladakpan Ke, Gunjan will be seen speaking on the ‘Power of 49’, conveying the helpline number and urging women to call and address their grievances to the government through the helpline.

Veera on Star Plus has come up with their campaign titled- Youth karega apne vote ki value... Tabhi badhegi Desh ki value! A government by the people, for the people just cannot function without its people. With the thought of mobilizing the youth and taking its ‘Nayi Soch’ agenda forward, Star Plus has introduced an initiative to encourage first time voters to register for the upcoming General Elections. Led by its popular face & youth icon – Veera, the campaign will see a series of public service messages, prompting young viewers to register, vote and make a difference. Star Plus has also created a promo with all lead casts of the channel approaching their viewers to vote.

In the ongoing general elections the youth are the main point of focus. It is imperative that they participate and be groomed as the future caretakers of the country. Youth channel MTV India is also focusing on youth with its campaign ‘Hero MTV Rock the Vote’ which is a wake-up call for all those who are above 18 years of age and have an opinion on things around them. Aimed at making young people aware of their power to vote, decide and be heard, MTV also hosted a panel discussion featuring politicians and youth experts and is a seven month long campaign.  MTV’s approach includes arranging special ‘Rock the Vote’ nights at prominent college festivals by getting known artists and bands like Mohit Chauhan, YoYo Honey Singh, Indian Ocean and Nikhil Chinapa to make the campaign much bigger. MTV held its first Twitter Townhall in India where prominent politicians like Meera Sanyal, Shaina NC, Priya Dutt and Milind Deora were seen responding to questions by Twitter users on real time. The activity witnessed a tweet reach to potential 14 mn in the Twitter universe. Apart from this, in collaboration with Hero, MTV held youth voting awareness rides called ‘Ek Ride Desh Ke Naam’ across 10 cities.

Last but not the least 9XM India's known Bollywood music channel, has created a socially- conscious musical revolution around the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections. Titled ‘Who Is The Idiot’, the music video featuring 9XM’s popular animated characters – Bade and Chote is composed and performed by popular rap artist and playback singer in Bollywood films – BlaaZe, along with Music Producer, Composer and Lyricist, Paul J.  The music video featuring BlaaZe and Paul J urges Indians to use their right to vote. 9X Media has created several short videos promoting the cause and hope to drive conscious voting. They will be spread across popular digital hangouts like Facebook, Twitter (#whoistheidiot) Youtube, Google+, whatsapp, BBM, WeChat, Pinterest, Instagram and Vine. The song will also be available in the form of CRBT (SMS IDIOT to 54646) through popular telecom partners.

So, with the inspiration derived from news channels, entertainment channels and the digital medium including Facebook, Twitter and You Tube it is but natural that we participate in the most crucial event of our country.