In a first, information ministry opts for memes to bring out voters

PUNE: In a first, the information ministry had opted for popular serials, movies and dialogues in the last phase of elections to get citizens out to vote. In a departure from the usual sombre official communication to voters - memes were part of election awareness tweets to attract young population to come out and vote with about an average of 67.11 % voting registered across 542 constituencies barring Vellore were polls were rescinded.

It is higher by 1.16 percent than 65.95% turnout in 2014.

While the Election Commission of India is already using mainstream media to spread awareness on elections, the branch of the information ministry - the press information bureau resorted to using memes to strengthen its connect with the youth. This seems to have attracted attention the instagram handles among all government departments where the officials feel that light, effective and constitutional correctness is maintained in these messages.

These posts comprise popular and easily identifiable references with superstars imploring citizens to exercise their democratic right with both Bollywood memes and other contemporary cinematic trends. The move is more significant, with about 45 million new citizens enrolling to caste their vote in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Instagram is owned by Facebook and people between 18 and 24 years comprise the bulk of its users.

Memes have found instant following as they are being seen as light and effective medium of communication. "Every vote matters" is a message that the Election Commission and political leaders often repeat to make people realise the importance of voting in the world's largest democracy.

One of the Instagram posts, popular Bollywood movie "Dilwale Dulhainaiya Le Jayenge's iconic dialogue "Jaa Simran Jee Le Apni Zindagi" (Go Simran... live your life) has been turned into a meme while other popular Bollywood movies that have been featured in the memes are "

Lagaan

", "Border" and the recent movie starring Ranveer Singh, "Gully Boy".