BCCI is of the view that if the players who are doing the duty for the country in New Zealand were not able to cast their vote, it would hardly make any difference to the course of the elections. So, they have not made any efforts to see to it that the Indian players are able to vote in the present elections.

While the BCCI may be of the view that if 16 players were not able to cast their votes, it would hardly make a difference to the course of elections, the symbolic association would indeed be great. Different forms of campaign are going around in the country by different group of individuals and organizations that are coaxing the people to come out and vote so that they may not rue later that the leader of their choice has not been elected. In such a scenario if the BCCI had made efforts to facilitate the Indian players to cast their votes, it would have given a strong message, more so the cricket crazy fans who could then have been implored to do the same. After all when their idols could vote in New Zealand, then the fans could very well go and do the same in different polling stations across the country as well.

Precisely for this reason the Jharkhand government is contemplating to utilize the services of the local icon of the state and the Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni to request the voters of the state to go to the polling stations and cast their votes. It is still not clear, how the logistics of the same would be worked out and whether the state government would do with a voice over, but it indeed is an encouraging move. If the government is leading such an initiative, more such states could follow suit and utilize the services of the icons of the state to urge on the voters to cast their vote. It is high time the initiative is seized, be it through campaigns, but the time has come to stand up and get counted.

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3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."

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