Chhattisgarh: Self-help groups go door to door with tamarind leaves, yellow rice to drive voter turnout in Phase 3

Balrampur (Chhattisgarh): A grassroots initiative to draw voters to polling booths in Chhattisgarh's Balrampur district is gaining traction and courting headlines in the ongoing general elections.

As part of the initiative, women from self-help groups are going door to door, distributing tamarind leaves and yellow rice to locals to encourage maximum voter turnout during the third phase of polling in the state.

The initiative majorly involves tapping into traditional practices to ensure maximum public participation in the festival of democracy.

Ahead of the third phase of polling on May 7, the women of Balrampur are bringing a festive flavour to the electoral process by delivering these traditional tokens to households across the district to drive voter participation.

The effort has not only sparked enthusiasm among villagers but has also demonstrated the power of community involvement in promoting democratic values.

Speaking to ANI, Vimla Singh, a member of one of these all-women self-help groups, expanded on the significance of the initiative, saying, "We are going door to door, gifting tamarind leaves and yellow rice to the people to encourage voter participation. Since polling will start early at 7 am, we are handing out these items that are intrinsic to our culture and traditional practices in a bid to draw the maximum number of voters to the polling booths. It is like inviting people to a wedding or a community event. What could be better or more joyful than this?" Singh said.

The district administration has come out in full support of this initiative, with district nodal officer Raina Jameel emphasising the importance of traditional methods in reaching out to rural voters.

"The elections are approaching, with voting scheduled for May 7. To drive public involvement in the electoral process and also encourage voter participation, we have sent out eco-friendly invitation letters to all the village councils on behalf of the district administration. Since tamarind leaves are traditionally used here and go with the local culture and traditional practices, we hit upon this method to invite people to polling booths. We want people to turn out in numbers and exercise their democratic right without any fear or inhibition," Jameel told ANI, adding, "We are going door to door, giving people yellow rice and tamarind leaves and requesting them to come out early and vote on May 7."

Polling for 2 of the 11 Lok Sabha seats in Chhattisgarh was conducted in the first two phases of the ongoing general elections. While voters in Bastar, which was considered a Naxal stronghold until recently, exercised their franchise on April 19; polling for Rajnandgaon, Mahasamund, and Kanker was held in Phase 2 on April 26.

The third phase of polling in the state will cover Raipur, Durg, Bilaspur, Surguja, Raigarh, Jangir-Champa and Korba.

In 2019, the BJP nearly mopped up all the poll sweepstakes in the state, winning 9 of the 11 seats; while the Congress' tally dropped to just 2.