Rocking Politics: Music shows to get youth to vote

Speaking the language of the youth, Tata Tea and an NGO have come up with the idea of launching a nationwide musical tour to persuade the otherwise vote-shy urban youth to exercise their franchise during the coming Lok Sabha elections.

Music through rock shows would be leveraged to get the youth to vote. The campaign, dubbed 'Shut Up and Vote', urges youth to stop complaining about civic woes and to rush into action and vote to make a change in society, said Jasmine Shah, the campaign coordinator at a press meet here today.

Earlier poll figures indicate that roughly only 16 per cent of urban youth vote, he said. Most of the youth are unaware of where they need to register themselves for voting, the procedure involved and are reluctant to be hassled.

Through an earlier campaign 'Jaago Re! One Billion Votes', the group had launched a website where youth could register online and get directions for the registration process.

"We got nearly four and a half lakh youth registering themselves after the launch of the campaign six months ago," said Sushant Dash, head of marketing, Tata Tea, which has joined hands with Bangalore-based NGO Janagraha.

Rock bands Thermal and Quarter will tour Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkatta, Delhi and Mumbai later this month as part of the musical campaign. A video by the group will also be telecast on all major channels as part of the campaign.