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Get inked, get discount: TN eateries, shops woo voters with April 18 offers
About one lakh restaurants, stores and establishments across the state are showering incentives on the electorate, who will exercise their franchise on April 18, in a bid to promote voting.
By
migrator
migrator
Chennai
Your morning podi idli and coffee are set to get cheaper tomorrow as restaurants and shops across Tamil Nadu are offering deals and discounts. Show up at the voting booth, cast your ballot and present your index finger marked with the indelible ink before your favourite restaurant to grab a 10 per cent discount on April 18. In an attempt to encourage voting, restaurant chains, including Saravana Bhavan, Adyar Ananda Bhavan, Hot Chips and Absolute Barbecues, are among those showering discounts on diners who will display their electoral ink mark after voting in the ensuing general elections.
“A total of 1 lakh establishments, including major hotel and restaurant chains and several standalone restaurants, are offering the 10 per cent discount to the state’s voters. The idea behind the initiative was to make everyone vote, while adding a fun incentive to those who cast their votes. We hope that the incentive makes more number of people show up for voting,” President of Tamil Nadu Hotels and Restaurants Association M. Venkada Subbu tells DT Next.
Apart from the eateries, several store owners have also come forward to push voting percentage in Chennai, by offering rebates. Pickles and More, a food store in Anna Nagar, is also giving 10 per cent off on the maximum retail price of all its products on the big voting day. “We want to ensure that everyone votes. By offering a discount, we want to encourage all voters to appear for voting. Everyone who loves their country must exercise their democratic right and should not miss out on choosing their leader,” the store owner Harish Dutia, 56, elaborates.
Jumping on the bandwagon to raise voting awareness is a fashion store, Centro Moda, which sells leather products in the city. The store manager Hemalatha says: “We are offering 20 per cent discount on all our handbags and fashion accessories on the day of voting. Even though I am not certain that the rebate can help in making more voters come out, we are hopeful that it will at least be a good way of applauding those who voted.”
Besides the incentives, online campaigning by netizens and social groups is at its peak before the D-day to encourage high voting. In a unique initiative, an activist collective ‘Ek Potlee Ret Ki’ is urging the young to engage in politics and represent themselves as part of the electorate. “Asserting democratic right is a fundamental idea that we want to propagate. It is not just about voting, but also about teaching youngsters on how a government works, its different arms and the ways of governance. We will continue our campaigns digitally to ensure high voting,” adds its founder Radhika Ganesh.
Youth travel the distance to cast their ballot
We have just a day to go for voting and the excitement is clearly visible from the long chats and debates about who will win the election, how many constituencies each party is going to win, etc. But what caught our interest is how youngsters from other parts of Tamil Nadu, who are settled in Chennai, have decided to travel back to their hometowns just to cast the vote. Some may think these young people care deeply about politics; well, they do, but there is also a long weekend starting from April 18 to 21.
Divakar KS, co-founder of a sports merchandise startup in Chennai, has reached his hometown, Dindigul to cast the vote. “Usually, it’s tough to get bus or train tickets during long holidays and since it is the election season, the bus transport services have doubled up the charges. Many are finding it tough to get the tickets. But I have come to my hometown earlier so there are no last minute hassles. My sister is voting for the first time and she is super thrilled about it. I am waiting for her to come home,” he says. First-time voter Rahul Subramaniam got his bus tickets to Coimbatore at the last moment. The youngster who is working with a surprise planning company in Chennai will be travelling to his hometown on April 17. “I was really looking forward to the voting day. And I’ve already made up my mind on which candidate I am going to vote for,” shares Rahul.
—As told to Merin James
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