Himachal: Cycle rallies in 10 districts to spread awareness among urban voters

Ahead of the June 1 election in Himachal Pradesh, cycle rallies were organised in 10 districts of the state to motivate voters, particularly those residing in urban areas, to come out and exercise their franchise, officials said on Sunday.

The cycle rallies were flagged off by all the District Electoral Officers or Deputy Commissioners in their respective districts barring Hamirpur and Kinnau and were organised in collaboration with the Cycling Association of Himachal Pradesh, a statement said here.

In Shimla, District Collector Anupam Kashyap flagged off the riders from the historic Ridge and state Chief Electoral Officer Maneesh Garg also joined them along with other officials.

These rallies were being organised to spread the message among people, particularly among the first-time voters and the youths, about their duty to vote, Garg said.

Around 2000 participants were taking part in these cycle rallies, he said.

''As the Lok Sabha elections are scheduled to be held on 1 June 2024, it is a moral duty of every citizen to ensure their participation in this Maha Utsav of Democracy'', he said.

Himachal Pradesh has always witnessed impressive voter turnouts and the people of the state particularly in rural areas show a lot of enthusiasm and zeal.

In the last assembly elections, the state recorded a 76 per cent voter turnout and this time again, the target was to surpass all the earlier figures.

He also flagged off 'The Democracy Van' which will spread awareness amongst the people to come out and vote voluntarily.

The riders will cover a distance of 15 to 20 kilometres in every district.

Earlier, a cycling expedition led by state election icon Jaspreet Paul, an avid cyclist and photographer from Mandi district, and his team member Kshitij travelled from Shimla to the world's highest polling station located at Tashigang in Lahaul and Spiti to create awareness among voters.

Voting on four Lok Sabha seats and in byelections to six Assembly seats will take place on June 1.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)