On the bright morning of March 19, 2019, dawned the first event of the newly instated Electoral Literacy Club, affiliated to the Department of International Studies and History, CHRIST (Deemed to be University)- the Voter’s I.D. Enrollment Drive. This was done in collaboration with the BBMP.

The event began with a Welcome Speech by one of the club heads, Rakshitha Bhat of 4HEP. She welcomed the dignitaries for the day, BBMP officials, Dr. T.H. Vishwanath, Joint Commissioner, Mr. Raju N, Deputy Commissioner, and Mr. Thipparaju, Revenue Officer, along with the faculty and students. She also spoke about the basics of voting. This was followed by the Voter’s Pledge administered by Dr. T.H. Vishwanath. He spoke of the importance of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), how elections need to be inclusive and that voting is not only our responsibility, but also our duty. He then formally inaugurated the event by cutting the ribbon. This was followed by a short speech by Dr. Vagishwari S P, Head of Department, which stressed on how voting and elections are ‘sacred acts’. She reiterated the fact that this is our future and we have absolutely no right to blame anyone if we do not choose to be a party to that future. The vitality of not letting personal prejudices affect votes, was spoken about by Rishvanth Reddy of 2EPS. The inauguration concluded with a Vote of Thanks by Deepika Ravishankar of 2HEP.

The day-long event saw immense enthusiasm and participation by the student body who were eager to fill their forms and become full-fledged voters. They asked pertinent questions and inquisitively checked out the demo EVMs that were brought and were being operated by BBMP officials. The officials answered queries and with equal vigour, taught the students about the EVMs. The student volunteers and club heads, thrilled by the interest, worked tirelessly to enroll all first-time voters and encouraged more to register. As the day came to an end, the Christites were considerably well-versed with facts about the 2019 General Elections and became familiar with the voting process.

All in all, the debut event of the Electoral Literacy Club, turned out to be quite a major success, having achieved its goal of spreading awareness about elections and cultivating the spirit of voting in the minds of the youngsters.