Take your ‘sajni' on a voting date: EC resorts to Bollywood to improve turnout

The EC improvised the original scene in the meme with the man saying 'poori English bolkar dikhayen?' (Can I speak entirely in English and show you)' to his wife and then goes on to say: 'Let's go vote'.

The Election Commission of India has attempted to take the Bollywood-way-out of the persistent problem of a low voter turnout that the country is facing in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections 2024.

So far, none of the phases have recorded an overall turnout of 70 per cent or above. In the remaining two phases, the poll body is hoping for a positive change in the numbers.

In its bid to improve the overall voter turnout with a focus on women voters, the Election Commission on May 22 posted a meme on social media plarform X (formerly known as Twitter) from the movie Laapataa Ladies.

“This election season take your ‘sajni' on a voting date,” the ECI wrote in the post.

Meanwhile, the EC improvised the original scene in the meme with the man saying "poori English bolkar dikhayen? (Can I speak entirely in English and show you)" to his wife as he goes on to say: "Let's go vote".

In the original dialogue, however, the husband says: "Poori English bolkar dikhayen? I love you."

Set in a fictitious state called Nirmal Pradesh, Laapataa Ladies is a story of two brides Phool and Pushpa, who accidentally get swapped on a train. One is taken away home by the groom, while the other is left stranded at a railway station.

The movie stars Pratibha Ranta and Nitanshi Goel as the lost brides, and Sparsh Shrivastav as the hapless groom.

The Kiran Rao directorial is now streaming on Netflix after its successful stint on the big screen.

After voting for first five phases concluded, the focus is now on the sixth phase that will be held on May 25 where 58 Lok Sabha constituencies across 8 states and union territories will go to polls.

So far, the turnout in the elections has been as follows:

Phase-1: 66.14 per cent

Phase-2: 66.71 per cent

Phase-3: 65.68 per cent

Phase-4: 69.16 per cent

Phase-5: 62.19 per cent (Approx)

Counting of votes will take place on June 4.

(With PTI inputs)