Rajkummar Rao Named ‘National Icon’ By India’s Election Commission

MUMBAI (ANI) – The Election Commission of India officially announced actor Rajkummar Rao as its ‘National Icon’ on October 26 to promote voter education and turnout.

Rao said, “It’s a big responsibility. It’s a huge honor. I’m very, very honored to be honest. I’m very touched. And of course, now it’s a responsibility to motivate people, especially our youth, to come out and vote. It’s one of the most important aspects of democracy. So all of us need to go out and cast our vote…A lot of things are in plan (to make that happen).”

The Chief Election Commissioner of India, Rajiv Kumar said, “Once you become a judge in democracy by voting and in the electoral process, this passion will come in your actions also. You will understand the power of democracy.”

“Today, the participation of our women in voting is more than that of men. Certainly, more in at least 20 states. You (Rajkummar Rao) have shot in the area of Chhattisgarh, where the people are very low on the Human Development Index. There are also a few vulnerable tribal groups, which are a total of 75 in the country. We have made a difference because this is part of making the entire electoral roll inclusive and participatory. We will include all the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG) as voters,” Kumar said.

Five states- Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram- will go to polls on different days from November 7-30, while the counting of the votes in these five states is scheduled on December 3.

According to the Chief Election Commissioner, nearly 16 crore voters are eligible to vote in these elections.