Just flaunting the mark of the indelible poll ink on your finger can help you save a lot of money this poll season!
Delhiites who exercise their franchise on Thursday will get handsome discounts at shopping areas, petrol pumps, restaurants, salons and even hospitals. These tempting offers are expected to boost the voter turnout on Thursday as many people have been waiting for this day.
While shopkeepers throughout the city will give customised discounts, several petrol pumps across the National Capital Region will offer a discount of 50 paise per litre. Even medical facilities are expected to be available at a lower cost as the Delhi Medical Association (DMA) has declared that all hospitals and clinics in the city will offer 25 per cent off on all consultations and 10-25 per cent off on medical services.
KK Kohli, state secretary DMA, said: “This offer is an incentive for people to go out and vote. We have contacted all doctors and hospitals in the city and informed them of the scheme. However, a few private hospitals may not be able to offer discounts on all the services.”
These special schemes are not only an inducement to people to vote but work as a promotional tool for many outlets in the city. Mayank Verma, a marketing professional, said: “The youth is involved in the system like never before. Political parties are thinking out-of-the-box to woo young voters. Everything else, from campaign strategies to promotional material used by political parties, is getting a makeover. So service providers, too, planned something smart to get voters to the poll booth.”
Eateries and cafés in Delhi are also luring voters. While some restaurants are offering free mock tails, Rara Avis, a restaurant in Greater Kailash II, is offering five per cent discount per voter.
“The idea was to send out a message to the voters from our database to step out and vote. It was basically very simple, if we tell them to just go and vote, our message would have been lost among the plethora of other messages floating around. We just wanted to do something out of the box. While it might seem like a stunt to cash in on election fever, if you look closely, we are actually losing out on revenue by giving them a discount,” restauranter Rajiv Aneja said.
Starbucks, too, will give a cup of milk coffee free to those who have exercised their franchise. “You just need to show the ink mark on your finger on April 10 as a validation to get milk coffee across all Starbucks outlets,” said Starbucks Indonesia on Twitter. Vijay Kapoor, chairman of the North India Caterers Association said 46 restaurants and 300 hotels in Delhi have promised to give discounts to voters.