Indian elections: Red panda eats shoots, and asks you to vote

Poll officials in the Darjeeling have adopted red panda as the mascot to create awareness on voting responsibilities.

KOLKATA:

When the most reclusive creature in the neighbourhood urges you to come out and vote, how can you refuse?

Poll officials in the Darjeeling constituency in India have adopted the cute and cuddly red panda as the mascot to create awareness on voting responsibilities. “The red panda is native to Darjeeling and we thought it’s the best way to connect with voters,” PuneetYadav, the district magistrate and district election officer, told The Express Tribune.

Darjeeling’s red panda — slightly larger than a domestic cat with a bear-like body—is the latest addition to the Election Commission’s nationwide efforts to emphasise the importance of voting ahead of the elections. In addition to the red panda, Bollywood star Aamir Khan and Indian rock band Euphoria were earlier brought on board to reach out to the over 814 million electors who are supposed to cast their votes in more than 930,000 polling stations to elect 543 members of the 16th LokSabha, or Lower House, of Parliament. Today (Thursday) marks the biggest single day of the month-long elections, as voters from 121 constituencies from 12 states go to the polls.



Acrimonious political campaigning has reached fever pitch in an election described as the most important in decades by analysts and historic by the Harvard University historian and Trinamool Congress candidate from West Bengal, Sugata Bose.

The Darjeeling constituency goes to polls today in the sixth phase of voting. The Darjeeling hills have been in longstanding conflict with West Bengal over the demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland and this election is being billed crucial with the contest between those for and against the division reaching a new high.

The red panda has been pressed into action to get people to vote in large numbers. Developing on an idea conceived by Kalimpong sub-divisional officer RadhikaAiyyar, cartoons of the cuddly mammal are being used to spread messages like ‘Shape Tomorrow, Register and Vote’ and ‘Your Vote, Your Right/Your Vote, Your Future’ through posters, billboards and advertisements on cable TV networks as part of the Election Commission’s voter awareness campaign.

In order to connect with the local people, the furry animal has been dressed in the traditional attire of different ethnic groups living in the hills. One even has a khukuri—the curved knife, a symbol of Gorkhavalour—tucked in its waist. Darjeeling constituency has a varied linguistic and ethnic mix: Bengalis in the plains and Nepalis, Bhutiasand Lepchas in the hills, with a sprinkling of Hindi-speakers everywhere.

“While the primary objective was to take the Election Commission’s message of free and fair voting to the people, it also aims to raise awareness on the red panda,” Yadav said.

Known to spend most of the day resting in sunshine, the red pandas are known for being lazy. For now, their own lethargy notwithstanding, the red pandas have been pressed into action to ensure no one’s too lazy to go out and vote.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 17^th, 2014.