While the politicians and independent candidates were busy eliciting support for themselves, a group of youngsters in the provisional state capital undertook an awareness drive on the “green vote bank” on Sunday.
In furtherance of its campaign “The Green Vote Bank”, Dehradun based student activist group, Making A Difference by Being the Difference (MAD) organised an awareness drive at Gandhi Park and Astley Hall. In view of the Vidhan Sabha election 2017, the polling for which is slated for February 15, the youngsters through their campaign attempted to sensitise the voters to elect only those representatives, who plan to seek the development of the State in a sustainable manner.
On Sunday morning, more than two dozen volunteers of the group met at Astley Hall and divided themselves into small teams. They then proceeded to discuss the upcoming elections with the passersby. The group’s head Abhijay Negi said, “To their surprise, many of the citizens were already aware about the Green Vote Bank as publicised by the group through its online campaign. The citizens pledged to cast their votes based on the environmental policy, vision and roadmap proposed by the political parties and candidates in their respective seats. This campaign, aimed chiefly at first time voters, proceeds in line with MAD's constant outcry to revive the dying rivers of Dehradun and a better sanitation and waste disposal system for the city. The group attempts to reach out to every right thinking Doonite and ask them to cast their vote in this election based on the environmental policy proposed by their candidate and political party. While majority of the citizens appreciated the efforts of the youngsters, more than a hundred came ahead to support the group by clicking pictures with the team with the messages like ‘My Vote, Green Vote’ and ‘I Pledge for a Green Vote’. In this regard, we have set a target of reaching out to at least 10,000 such voters, asking them to pledge to be a part of the 'Green Vote Bank' which will decide its vote on the basis of the environmental conservation oriented vision proposed by the candidate.”