MUMBAI: “A man without a vote is a man without protection” – Lyndon B. Johnson the 36th president of the United States highlighted the importance of ‘voting’ through this quote. This resonates with the ongoing elections where radio stations like BIG FM are trying to make a difference.  

BIG FM’s ‘Mera Manifesto’ campaign intends to bring out people’s manifesto instead of political parties’ manifestos. The objective of the initiative is to generate conversations amongst listeners and thereby highlight key issues of the city ahead of the ongoing 2019 General Elections.

Similarly, RJ Nitin, RJ Jassi, RJ Simran and RJ Yogi from Delhi reached out to people from different constituencies of Delhi and seeked their opinion on the upcoming elections. This includes their expectation from the party that would stand victorious in 2019 elections and more.

We at Radioandmusic.com, connected with RJs that ran this campaign to learn more about their experience.

RJ Nitin

It was an eye opener to connect with people. It was great going on the ground finding some real issues.

It was good to see that people weren’t yelling about their problems but were just voicing their opinion subtly. I spoke to the students, we spoke on how job opportunities need to increase and much more. 

I would like to inform viewers that time has come; you need to stand up and press the vote button.  Express your right to vote as that’s the least you can do for your country. Before independence, there were freedom fighters who worked hard for our freedom the least we can do to keep the freedom intact is to pay back all those people who gave their lives. 

RJ Yogi

I realised that we all have similar issues – traffic, pollution, etc -- and people need to voice it out. It’s always good to know what your consumer needs as it helps generate content for us as well.

We all know what the problem is and what the solution is. This election date which falls on 12 May I think everyone should go out and cast their vote to the right candidate.

RJ Simran

I got a chance to cover the West Delhi constituency and Central Delhi constituency and I struck a right chord with people trying to know the prevalent issues. We went to talk to the general public who were there at market places in different areas of Delhi. I am in the radio business for the past 12 years; this is for the first time that we went in depth about our conversations relating to elections.

We have been voting for many years now but there are issues that need to be addressed. We know that eve teasing still exists but it has not been sorted yet, women in Delhi aren’t feeling safe. People have been talking about cleanliness that is something really sad. I think representatives who are standing this time should realize what people are expecting from them and they need to work on this.

We have still not familiarised ourselves. I am sure if I go out today and ask the crowd of the voting date, candidate, last elections; many wouldn’t know about it.  People should realise these elections can impact their life. So, please wake up and vote.

RJ Jassi

‘Mera Manifesto’ is one of a kind campaign where we realised that there were common problems faced. What I liked was that there wasn’t a single person who said that they won’t vote; this was heartening to see.

I would ask people to please go out and exercise your right. Be wise, informed and don’t listen to your family or friends. Do what you believe in and vote.