LokSabha 2019: ‘Vote for strong govt’ campaign kick-starts

PUNE: Appealing to people to come out and vote for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, Yashwant Gharpure (85), along with other volunteers, has started the campaign called ‘Vote for strong government’ six weeks ago, in the city. 

The campaign was announced during at a press conference held at Pune Union of Working Journalists office (popularly known as Patrakar Bhavan) on Thursday.

“We have seen in the past, how coalition governments have performed. Thus, it was very important for each and every individual to vote and help in forming a strong government with a majority for the country’s future. We can’t change the past but now, India is in a takeoff stage and we need a strong government to help the country reach the heights of success,” said Gharpure during the conference.

This citizens’ group comprises volunteers from all walks of life and are conducting the awareness drive with an aim to sensitise people to vote and help in forming a strong government. They have conducted awareness sessions in the villages of Satara district and urged them to vote for the right person. They are also using social media platforms like WhatsApp, where they are circulating messages to create awareness. 

“Social media platforms like WhatsApp are very convenient and easy and has a massive reach, thus, we are extensively using it to reach out to people of all ages,” added Gharpure.

“We are not supporting any party. Our main concern is to motivate people to vote. They can vote whomever they think is the right person but it is very important to vote so that a strong government with a majority can be formed. We are going to various citizen groups like societies, senior citizens’ groups and distributing them into batches and urging them to cast their vote,” said Vilas Rabde, a volunteer of the campaign.