From lawns to walls, Patna administration urging residents to go out and vote

From a giant poll-themed rangoli at the Gandhi Maidan here to public walls bearing art works on election-related activities, city authorities have taken a number of initiatives to urge voters to go out and exercise their franchise on May 19.

Besides the Patna district administration, the capital city's municipal corporation has also taken a slew of measures to build awareness on voting.

Patna district has two constituencies, Patna Sahib and Pataliputra.

While the district administration has put up a massive rangoli themed on the Election Commission's tagline of leaving no voter behind at the lawns of Gandhi Maidan in the heart of the city, the local civic body is raising awareness through colourful Mithila paintings on walls.

The SVEEP (Systematic Voters' Education and Electoral Participation) Patna team on May 15 also shared on social media a video shot by drone of the 260x160 sqm canvas which has been created by students of the College of Arts and Crafts, Patna, and a group of volunteers.

The Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC), which has been creating murals across the city since last October as part of its Mithila Meets Magadh initiative to turn dull walls of the city into vibrant spaces, has also used this as a vehicle to build awareness.

In various municipal schools and public places, Mithila-themed artworks on walls are either showing voters casting ballot or flashing inked fingers, among other works.

At other places, the murals urge voters to not be lured by money to cast their vote in favour of a particular party but exercise their own choice judiciously.

We have incorporated election theme into part of our overall project, but it is just a temporary initiative as election are underway.

"Our paintings are part of a larger goal of creating a smart city with proper sanitation system, PMC commissioners Anupam Kumar Suman told PTI.

The PMC has put up installations at various public places like a huge inked finger at Rajdhani Vatika in the heart of the city where the district administration has installed selfie points for voters as well.

In many of our schools, we have got such artworks done on the inside of the school premises too, as they will be used as polling booths. We have also got some toilets installed at many of these schools, which can be later used by students, Suman said.

Ashish Ranjan, a second-year student at the College of Arts and Crafts, and a team member in the wall painting project, said, Some of the election-themed murals have been painted at a school in Mithapur and a few other places. It is a wonderful step by the PMC.

Walls of a school in Malahi Pakdi in Kankarbagh falling under the Patna Sahib constituency have been donned with colourful murals raising awareness on voting.

The PMC has also initiated development of green booths named 'Vasundhara' at its circle offices for the general elections.

These booths will be attractively designed with bio-degradable materials, along with green leaves and flower pots. The voters will be gifted a plant. The motto behind this setup is to make aware people about greenery and promote eco-friendly environment, according to officials.