Autos harnessed to help voters, aid poll campaigns – The Times of India

Pune: To encourage voting, autos in the city will be used to create awareness among people to exercise their franchise and help them reach their polling stations.Auto unions also said many of their three-wheelers have been booked by parties in various constituencies for campaigning purposes.Subhash Kadam, a Hadapsar-based auto driver, said he has been hired to campaign for Supriya Sule by NCP (SCP). “I move around from 9am till 1pm and then 5pm till 9pm. Flexes are up on my vehicle and an audio recording plays continuously on speakers. I get paid Rs1,200 a day. There are many like me doing this across the city,” he said.Over 1.5 lakh autos ply in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad.Pune RTO recently held a meeting with auto unions. “We requested union leaders to help us create awareness as voting day for Pune LS constituency nears. They have also been asked to contact counterparts in nearby constituencies. Many stickers with messages on the importance of voting have been distributed to paste on autos,” Pune’s regional transport officer Sanjiv Bhor told TOI.Nitin Pawar, convenor of Rickshaw Panchayat, said they plan to provide extra assistance to voters on May 13. “Auto drivers will take electors to booths. We are thinking about asking all drivers to refuse no rides to voters. A final plan will be made soon, and instructions given. Many drivers are campaigning for parties, too,” Pawar said.Shafiq Patel, president of Azad Rickshaw Chalak Sanghatna, said many election candidates have booked autos to ferry voters to polling booths. “We are creating a video on the importance of voting to make viral via social media. Our drivers will stay present near polling booths and areas to transport senior citizens on election day,” Patel said.Aam Aadmi Rickshaw Chalak Sanghatna president Anand Ankush shared that they will be holding a meeting with their senior members next week to finalise a plan. “People should not abstain from voting due to summer heat. We plan to deploy our autos across areas. We have more than 17,000 members and all will be asked to not refuse rides to anyone,” he shared.

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