Chief Electoral Officer of Punjab Sibin C has named young Indian batsman Shubman Gill as the ‘state icon’ for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Gill is a resident of Punjab and has made the country proud with his performance for the Indian cricket team in all three formats. The poll panel of the state has set up a target to achieve more than 70 percent of the voting percentage in the upcoming elections. They have also given up the slogan, “Is Vaar 70 Paar.”
The Chief Electoral Officer of Punjab believes that Shubman Gill has a huge fan following especially amongst the youth of the state. He believes that Gill will contribute to influencing the voters and the youth which will help in increasing the voter turnout of the state.
Shubman Gill announced as Punjab’s ‘state icon’
Apart from Shubman Gill, Punjabi singer Tarsem Jassar has been announced as the ‘state icon’. The main focus behind the appointment of celebrities as the ‘state icon’ is that these well-known people will put up their influence on all age groups, which will help the state to achieve its target of 70 percent voting percentage.
Shubman Gill announced his arrival on the cricket field during the U19 World Cup 2018 when he ended up being the leading run-scorer of the tournament, which also helped him win the Player of the Tournament award. Gill continued to showcase his talent for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League and became one of the permanent members of the side for the first three seasons.
Shubman Gill earned a call-up for India, soon after his heroics in domestic cricket and IPL. While the initial days were challenging for Gill, his first breakthrough innings in international cricket came against Australia in Brisbane on the 2021 tour of the Island nation. Gill played an innings of 91 runs during the second innings of the Brisbane Test and showcased his courage.
Since then Shubman Gill has never looked back. Gill ended up being the leading run scorer in the IPL 2023 and smashed 890 runs from 16 games with 2 hundreds. The right-handed batter also ended up being the leading run scorer in all three formats in the year 2023 and scored 2154 runs from 48 games, with 10 half-centuries and seven hundreds.
Shubman Gill also became the youngest batsman to slam a double hundred in ODIs, and will now lead his IPL franchise Gujarat Titans in IPL 2024.
Shubman Gill is currently part of the IND vs ENG Test series wherein he played an innings of 91 runs during the second innings of the 3rd Test match played in Rajkot. He also scored a ton in the second Test played in Visakhapatnam.
The Chief Electoral Officer stressed the value of these kinds of efforts in fostering civic involvement and the part these state heroes play in raising voter knowledge and fervor.
The active participation of Shubman Gill and Tarsem Jassar is likely to have a favorable effect on voter turnout, especially in areas where past elections saw lesser participation, as the Lok Sabha polls are scheduled to take place in April/May.