A representative image of people casting their vote.
Credit: iStock Photo
Mumbai: Voters will get up to 20 per cent discounts in select shops, restaurants and multiplexes in Mumbai after showing the inked finger, Election Commission officials announced here on Friday.
Assembly elections will be held in Maharashtra on November 20.
The initiative, aimed at encouraging voting, was being undertaken after holding discussions with associations of traders, multiplex owners and restaurant owners, said an official.
The poll body on Friday launched `Utsav Nivadnukicha, Abhiman Maharashtracha', (Festival of Elections, Maharashtra's Pride), a voting awareness campaign which aims to increase voter turnout.
The event at the Gateway of India was attended by officials of the Election Commission, Mumbai Police and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation besides celebrities including actor Varsha Usgaonkar, Mohan Joshi, Rohit Shetty and cricketer Ajinkya Rahane.
India Post also released a special cancellation at the function which will be in operation till November 20.
Farogh Mukadam, nodal election officer for Mumbai, said the discount initiative was the brainchild of Mumbai Municipal Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani, the district election officer for Mumbai city and the Mumbai suburban district.
Gagrani conducted a meeting with representatives of the Federation of Retail Traders Welfare Association, Multiplexes Association of India, Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association, Association of Hotel and Restaurants, and some other trade bodies on October 31.
They agreed to offer discounts to voters to encourage voting, she said.
"They often give discounts on other occasions, so we asked if they could offer similar discounts for voting. Their response was positive," Mukadam said.
Multiplex chains PVR Inox, Cinepolis, Mirage, Sterling, Mukta, MovieMax and Movie Time have agreed to offer 20 per cent discount to voters from November 20 to 22 in the city.
AHAR has offered 10 to 20 percent discounts to voters on food on November 20 and 21 on showing the inked finger, Mukadam said.
The offer is not valid for online bookings or purchases, she specified.
At the function, it was also announced that the Maharashtra Retail Association and Reliance Retail outlets would offer 10 to 15 per cent discounts on November 20.
During the Lok Sabha elections this year, several restaurants and retail shops in the city had offered similar discounts on their own.
Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.
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