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Voter awareness move: Assam DC’s photo with her kids wins hearts online

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GUWAHATI: When she succumbed to her childrens tantrums to get clicked with her for an official voter awareness initiative, Jorhat Deputy Commissioner Roshni Aparanji Korati had no idea that the image would win hearts of netizens. Korati was annoyed and was unable to pacify her two sons, Sanchit Asher (5) and Suchit Noah (3), who were insisting to be in the same frame as their mother, when a team including a photographer designated for the work visited her official residence in Jorhat.

“The moment I dressed up for the picture with a placard ”I am a proud voter”, they started throwing tantrums. They also wanted to get clicked and hold placards. My parents and I tried our best to convince them, but they would not listen,” she told PTI.

Then the team came up with an idea and said that they could also come in the frame, but would require two more placards on which “My mother is a proud voter” would be written, the IAS officer said.

“I got them ready with traditional Assamese dresses. Then I posed with my two sons holding placards for creating awareness on voting. Thankfully, the picture came out well with the kids making faces,” Korati said with a laugh, recalling Tuesday’s incident.

The photograph, which was uploaded on the official Twitter handle of the Jorhat Deputy Commissioner has won hearts of netizens. The picture has been widely circulated on Whatsapp too.

“Children always add a cute aspect to pictures. It is an attempt to attract voters and remind them of their responsibility to vote. I only hope that my sons get a sense of the festival of democracy, though they are too young to understand elections,” Korati said.

Five constituencies — Jorhat, Teok, Titabar, Mariani and Dergaon — in Jorhat district will go to polls in the first phase on March 27.

Meanwhile, the Jorhat district administration has designed three live mascots keeping in mind the three components of an Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) — the Control Unit, VVPAT and the Ballot Unit.

“As our state is known for its pride, the one-horned rhinoceros, our mascots have been designed as a fusion of the rhinoceros and the EVM, she said.

The live mascots – persons wearing a huge rhino mask with a dress resembling an EVM – are touring around public places like markets, malls and bus stands to create awareness on voting, Korati said.

Attracted by the EVM-rhino mascots, people click selfies with them, which are uploaded on their social media accounts, she said.

“Leaflets with voting awareness messages are also being distributed by our mascots to the public,” the DC said.

Elections for the 126-member Assam assembly will take place in three phases on March 27, April 1 and April 6. PTI 

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