Young India wakes up to vote

“Shut up and vote, shut up and vote,
you’ve got the dope, you’re the antidote.”

These powerful lyrics of the song Shut up and Vote, penned by the band Thermal and a quarter, is taking the country by storm. In fact, Shut up and Vote has become an anthem for urban youth who are waking up to vote and bring about the change they want to see.
The band became the talk of the nation ever since it tied up with an NGO called Janaa graha and started touring the country with a mission to influence urban india to vote. Taking a leaf out of their book are local bands, who are also crooning their own versions of the number. Rinki Sharma of Antidote says, “We plan to end our performances with the message “get out and vote” through our music. We’ll keep this going this entire month.”
Students of Icfai will use the closing ceremony of their sports fest Icthalon 09 to drive home the same message.
Says Kriti Srivastava, student co-ordinator, Icthalon, “This fest is a platform where hundreds of students will gather today and we want to urge them to vote as that’s the only way we can bring about change. students from other parts of the country, who can’t exercise their franchise as they haven’t stayed here for more than six months, are also willing to come forward to inspire the local people to cast their votes.”
The corporates too are on high alert and have jumped in to their bit. The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), Hyderabad chapter, has organised four rallies since December 2008, all aimed at creating awareness about voting. The organisation also set up Letsvote.in, a portal that also helps one register online for a voter ID card. Sheela, committee member, says, “Our initiative is to get people from corporate sector to register as voters. we tied up with IT companies and registrations are underway and the response has been great.”
Google roped in team Jaagore from Bengaluru to educate its employees.
Sanmay Ved, an AdWords rep, says, “We got to clarify all our doubts about voting. We then appointed a person from each team to follow up with the same and ensure that all of us get our voter ID cards before the elections.”
Young India Movement is another organisation that aims at empowering the youth through voting.
Sudhish Rambhotla, President, YIMovement says, “We not only spread awareness about voting among the youth but also encourage them to actively be part of the political system. It is the youth of today who should decide the future of the nation.”