Exclusive | Lok Sabha elections 2024: How Jalgaon managed to boost voter numbers in 2024

In 2019, while there was 56.12 pc turnourt in Jalgaon and 61.40 pc in Raver, lower than the one in 2014

The Jalgaon election team led by district collector Ayush Prasad managed to increase voter numbers by creative methods resulting in better numbers than of 2019 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

"The voting was conducted on May 13 in fourth phase. About 1.57 lakh more voters cast their vote in Jalgaon in 2024 than they had in 2019 - an increase of 7.91%," a beaming Prasad told Mid-Day.

Last time in 2019, while there was 56.12 pc turnourt in Jalgaon and 61.40 pc in Raver, lower than the one in 2014 when it was 58 pc in Jalgaon and 63.48 pc in Raver, the administration this time has managed to boost up the numbers and increase the vote count in 2024.

"When we first time had a meeting with Collector sir some two weeks ago, he was very focussed that we needed to increase the vote count. He was, however, very clear that we needed to do so by not going to rural areas, slums anything, but garner support of all Rotarian across Jalgaon and also rope in immediate and other family members and circle. We have around nine Rotary Clubs in Jalgaon with a total strength of 600 members. We all took concerted efforts. As far as Jalgaon Goldcity was concerned, we drove up a three-step action plan in a data-driven manner. We gathered data on the basis of Google forms from member as to how many family members does one have, how many fall under his or her circle of influence, like immediate friends, co-workers relatives and shared with sir. After this, we made short videos on the subject from influential members of the club with different themes, but singular message that one needs to vote. We also formed a small group to guide and assist for all those had problems finding their names in the electoral roll," said Rotarian Amit Ahuja, member - Rotary Club of Jalgaon Goldcity.

"On the voting day, we formed groups of ten led by a head who voted together. Our tagline was 'Rotary Votes before 9.' We had a dress code 'white' for all nine Rotary Club members and after the voting was over, we gathered in a common hall with family members. Ayush sir joined us and we sang the national anthem together and then dispersed," he said.

"Many of the ideas like common dress, early morning vote wer by Ayush sir. The president of all the nine clubs Rorarian Satish Mandora of Rotary Enclave (the group of nine clubs) needs a special mention as he was the anchor and constantly co-ordinating with everyone. That's how our humble efforts increased the vote count," Ahuja added.

"The final step was to assess how many actually voted. So a google form was again sent in the evening on the day of voting and it proved to be a success," he added.

"The idea was to involve everyone and make them a part of the process. I went to Rotary Club of Jalgaon Goldcity personally and sang the national anthem after voting. This is the +20,000 who would have otherwise not voted and the unique initiative made all the difference," Jalgaon Collector Ayush Prasad told Mid-Day.

"Based on data and statistics, we were able to identify the categories of people among whom the vote count is low. We then decided to target these people and bring them out this time. Who are these people? There were about five categories- youth, the first time voters, women, senior citizens, select tribal communities and the ones with urban apathy. Once we narrowed down on these, we strategised to target them," he said.