Cricket maestro and Bharat Ratna recipient, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, was appointed as the ‘National Icon’ for voter awareness and education, representing the Election Commission of India (ECI). This collaboration aims to boost voter turnout, especially targeting the youth and urban demographics.

What Happened: An MoU was signed with the cricket legend for a tenure of three years on Wednesday. The official event for this collaboration took place at Rang Bhavan, Akashvani, New Delhi. The attendees included the Chief Election Commissioner Shri Rajiv Kumar and Election Commissioners Shri Anup Chandra Pandey and Shri Arun Goel.

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As per the Commission, this partnership with Tendulkar is envisioned to harness his immense influence among the youth to enhance voter participation in the upcoming elections, notably the General Elections 2024. Through this initiative, the ECI aims to mitigate the challenges of urban and youth indifference towards the electoral process.

Former ECI Icons: The ECI has a tradition of associating with eminent personalities from diverse fields, designating them as ECI's national icons to inspire voters to actively participate in the democratic process. In the previous year, renowned actor Pankaj Tripathi was honored as the National Icon. Furthermore, during the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, notable figures such as M.S. Dhoni, Aamir Khan, and Mary Kom were chosen as the ECI National Icons.

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