During the first phase of the legislative election on 10th February in Western Uttar Pradesh approximately two crore individuals exercised their right to vote. During the polling, it was noticed that the majority of youth did not turn up to cast the vote. Looking at the same, Mirzapur Official, “Largest Digital Media Outlet” of Mirzapur District started the campaign ‘#MeraVoteMeriTaakat’ to motivate people to vote. This initiative is conceived by the founders Vishal Yoman and Ayushi Anand who have previously run many successful campaigns for the people of Mirzapur.
After looking at the concerning issue that most of the youths did not cast their votes, they came up with an idea through which they are asking such people to go out and vote. Being the first media digital outlet and news portal of the district, Mirzapur Official has been boasting the people of Mirzapur through different campaigns and giving them a platform to give their opinions a voice. Since the seventh phase elections took place on 7th March 2022 in Mirzapur, the incredible duo through Mirzapur Official asked voters to send their after voting selfies, so that they can post the selfie with a frame packaging on their social media platforms to encourage them.
This campaign became a huge hit as people participated in large numbers and appreciated them for their contribution. Not just common people praised them but even known faces like Union Minister and Member of Parliament, Anupriya Patel also joined this campaign. She shared the campaign selfie on Twitter with the caption, “I did my duty by voting on the great festival of democracy.” Along with this she personally congratulated Vishal Yoman and his team for this amazing concept and design.
According to the Election Commission guidelines, all the leaders were asked to do their campaigns and promotion online. And, following that Mirzapur Official also started their campaign online supporting the election commission. This voting awareness campaign is a first in itself which is why it is gaining a lot of attention from the past few days. It aims to create awareness amongst the youth towards their voting rights and help them understand that democracy is not about politics instead it's about the people who reside in the country. Mirzapur Official believes that media is the fourth pillar of democracy, without free and fair media true democracy is unattainable.
While talking about their take towards the participation of the youth of the nation in the election processes, the founders Vishal Yoman and Ayushi Anand said, "In our opinion, an Election is a vital act of civic participation in which youth of the nation should participate to contribute in the democracy. While youth involvement can take various forms, it is a powerful means for young people to have their voices heard and have an impact on issues that affect them and their communities. Furthermore, it can also serve as a springboard for other forms of participation.”
The news portal is very well versed with the fact that some individuals are still uninformed of technology and are unaware of how far the country has progressed. Hence, since its establishment, the founders’ primary goal was to disseminate relevant information to the masses. Mirzapur Official also was a part of the “Start-Up Diwas”, which is an initiative taken up by the government of India for generating employment and wealth creation. The Prime Minister of the country termed this as the backbone of new India and this news portal shows its condemn support towards this initiative taken up by the government. Mirzapur Official exclaims that this initiative is an engine that will accelerate the nation’s economic growth in the startup run.
They were felicitated with the award from the District Magistrate of Mirzapur for their contribution during the pandemic for their campaign #VaccineWaliSelfie. Mirzapur Official owned by Kalpanik Films LLP began as a Facebook community page in September 2014. Since then, they have grown to have a fan base of over 2,00,000 Facebook fans and a monthly readership of over half a million on their news website.
According to their credibility, their Facebook group has 20,000+ members, their WhatsApp group has 48000+ members, and their Instagram account has 16,000+ followers. This new portal is beneficial in massive regions and is playing a significant role in contributing to the upliftment of the country. Through such initiatives and campaigns, they will redefine the online news industry and will ace the domain in no time.