BHOPAL: Bahubali, the Bollywood mega-hit, has made a surprise entry into-poll bound Madhya Pradesh.
Election officials in Singrauli district are using pictures, sequences and dialogues from the film to educate and encourage voters to exercise their franchise for the November 28 election.
Pamphlets and banners with paraphrased dialogues are being used extensively across the district, once known as a Naxal belt. In one of the promotional leaflets, Kattappa, the trustworthy commander of the Mahishmati kingdom, is seen exhorting Bahubali: “Vote dena mat bhoolna Bahu (don’t forget to vote Bahu).”
In another promotional leaflet released by the district election officer, the queen-mother of the kingdom, Sivagami Devi, is seen issuing the diktat, “Aapka vote hi shashan hai, vote dene avashya jayein (your vote is the governance, please go and vote).”
In Khandwa district, poll authorities are using sequences and dialogues from other hit films, particularly Sholay, to motivate voters to come out and vote. Real-life festivities during the ongoing Durga Puja-Diwali festive season are also being used by the election authorities in other districts, including Burhanpur and Harda to galvanise voters to exercise their franchise. V L Kantha Rao, MP’s Chief Electoral Officer, said every district was coming out with innovative ways to ensure maximum turnout.
Superhero Chouhan
Before the model code of conduct came into force, videos portraying CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan as Bahubali and Congress leaders as villains from the film went viral in MP.