Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, 13 March, urged leaders across the political spectrum – including Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee and Mayawati – to encourage people to caste their votes in large numbers in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Polls across the country will be held from April to May.
In his first tweet, Modi tagged Rahul Gandhi (Congress), Mamata Banerjee (Trinamool Congress), Mayawati (BSP), Akhilesh Yadav (SP), MK Stalin (DMK), Tejashwi Yadav (RJD) and Sharad Pawar (NCP).
The next series of tweets went out to KCR, Naveen Patnaik, HD Kumaraswamy, N Chandrababu Naidu, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, Nitish Kumar, Ram Vilas Paswan, Pawan Chamling, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Chirag Paswan, Aaditya Thackeray.
Prime Minister Modi also tagged former President Pranab Mukherjee and said, “Being among India's most prolific statesmen and someone who has been active in politics for decades, you would understand the power of a vote.”
The prime minister also tagged businessmen, actors, journalists, spiritual leaders and sports stars, asking all of them to “participate in the elections” and “motivate youth to vote.”
‘Please Ensure Greater Voter Awareness’
Modi tagged spiritual leaders such as Baba Ramdev and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, requesting them to “inspire people towards greater democratic participation.”
Modi Urges Sports Personalities to Vote
Another couple of tweets by PM Modi went out to Neeraj Chopra, Yogeshwar Dutt, Sushil Kumar, PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikant.
Modi urged the sports stars to help India “win” in these elections too.
Appealing the Phogat sisters, Modi said, “We've seen you in the wrestling world. I urge you all to support the movement to ensure greater voter participation in the Chunavi Dangal.”
Tagging cricketers MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, the prime minister said, “You are always setting outstanding records on the cricketing field but this time, do inspire the 130 crore people of India to set a new record of high voter turnout.”
VVS Laxman, Anil Kumble and Virender Seehwag were also tagged.
Modi Asks Businessmen If They Can Help Strengthen Democracy
Tagging businessmen and industrialists like Ratan Tata, Anand Mahindra, Ashish Chauhan the prime minister said, “India wins when our democracy gets strengthened.
Ensuring maximum participation in voting is the perfect way to strengthen democracy.
Can we all make this happen?”
Modi Urges Journalists to Spread Awareness on Voter Registration
Tagging senior journalists Rahul Kanwal, Anjana Om Kashyap, Sudhir Chaudhary, Rubika Liyaquat, Rajat Sharma, Subhash Chandra, Vineet jain, Aroon Purie, Rahul Joshi and Sanjay Gupta, PM Modi said that the media plays a vital role in a democracy and that it should work towards ensuring a greater voter turnout in the upcoming elections.
Modi Appeals Bollywood Stars to Vote
Referring to the Bollywood stars as his “young friends”, Modi tagged Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhat, Deepika Padukone, Vicky Kaushal, Varun Dhawan and Anushka Sharma.
Tagging Akshay Kumar, Bhumi Pednekar and Ayushmann Khurrana, Modi tweeted, “Thoda Dum Lagaiye aur Voting ko Ek Superhit Katha banaiye.”
Modi also tagged Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan and Karan Johar, asking them to participate in the polls.
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