In a bid to spread awareness among voters on the importance of their votes ahead of Punjab assembly elections, the office of Chief Electoral Officer, Punjab on Sunday unveiled its election mascot – ‘Shera’ depicting a lion.

On the occasion, five Persons with Disabilities (Pwds) were especially invited as guest of honour.

Speaking at the launch, Dr S Karuna Raju, CEO Punjab said that dressed in traditional Punjabi attire, the election mascot, ‘Shera’ represents the rich cultural heritage of Punjab. Promoted under the Systematic Voters Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) project, the mascot aims to increase voter awareness and participation in the elections to increase voter turnout and promote ethical voting, he said.

As part of the SVEEP plan, posters, effigies and big sized cut-outs will be used of election mascot, ‘Shera’, besides extensively disseminating voter awareness messages on social media.

This will in particular strike a chord with youth, he added.

Dr Raju further said that a voter awareness campaign has been conceived and executed keeping in mind the culture of Punjab and preferences of voters. Giving an instance, he said that Nukkad Nataks and performances of theatre artistes enacting as ‘Bhands’ are widely shown across Punjab to establish a strong connect with voters.

A special feedback drive headed by SVEEP consultant, Manpreet Aneja was undertaken to gauge preferences of voters and as per the feedback received, the mascot was developed by Jasvinder Singh and Rahul Attreja, the designers engaged from C-DAC, Mohali for SVEEP project.