A dorning goggles, dressed in modern attire with colourful shirts and hats, he is fervently exhorting
Barodians
to use their
voting
rights.
No. He’s not some film star or a social media sensation. He is reaching out to the voters with his scary jaws and razorsharp teeth!
Yes, you got it right! The
crocodile
that thrives right in the heart of the city is the voting ambassador for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
The waterbodies of Vadodara district are home to at least 1,000 reptiles, the highest among all districts of Gujarat. Vishwamitri river which passes through the heart of Vadodara city, accounts for a population of over 270 crocodiles.
The district
officials in Vadodara are using crocodile as the
mascot
to connect with more voters. Interestingly, this election season, the crocodile is the only wild animal in Gujarat which is being used as a mascot to promote voter awareness.
“Vadodara is known for a healthy breeding population of crocodiles. It is an animal with which every Barodian in some or other way relates to, and crocodiles have also emerged as one of the identities of Vadodara. We are using the reptile as a mascot so that every Baro dian connects with our message on voter awareness,” said Arjunsinh Chauhan, deputy mamlatdar of the election branch of Vadodara.
With crocodile as the mascot, the election branch has developed a light-hearted
comic
series that is being shared on social media platforms. They have also displayed it on hoard ings, banners, selfie booths and standees themed around ‘Avsar: Chunav Ka Parv, Desh Ka Garv’.
So, there is a family of crocodiles that decides to go for voting — their first task after waking up from their beds.
If there is a ‘muscular crocodile’ showing off his biceps to another crocodile to send across the message that he knows the “power of vote”, then there is a ‘leader crocodile’ who appeals to a gathering of humans to vote on May 7.
“Vote mere aaqaa” – is the message from the wish-granting Genie when a hat-adorned crocodile rubs the magic lamp in his hand in a comic inspired from the story of ‘Aladdin and Genie’.
In another comic representation, the reptile caricatures are shown spending their time in search of food (fishing), relaxing in water or busy increasing their followers on social media networking sites like Facebook and Instagram when a celestial announcement tells them not to forget to cast their vote on May 7.
“Along with awareness to increase voter turnout, the comic characters also spread awareness on rules that voters need to know. For instance, mobiles are not allowed in polling booths. We are also creating awareness on the time of election of 7am to 6pm through this series,” said Chauhan.
English (US) ·