In a bid to encourage youth to excersise their right to vote, the media group launched a 'Black Ink On Your Nail' campaign amidst a star studded event Thursday evening. The group initiated the press to the campaign at a lounge bar Tres Botas in suburban Mumbai, with the launch of a special anthem, 'Vote Do Vote Do' .

With inspiring music and strong lyrics "Hai yeh adhikar bhi hai, yeh kartavya bhi. Vote do !!! Vote do !!!, Boond se boond milkar samandar bane, Eet par eet rakho tabhi ghar bane, Vote woh boond hai Jisse tum sukh ke sagar bana sakte ho! !, Vote Do !! Vote Do !!", the anthem will be aired nationally on all leading TV channels. It will also be extensively used during all its promotions and on ground activities.

Poet-Lyricist Javed Akhtar, Ehsaan, Loy, Miss India World Ami Vashi, Miss India Earth Shweta Vijayan, Singer Shankar Mahadevan and Kunal Vijaykar at the launch of the Black Ink on your Nail campaign at Tres Botas, Bandra last night

Celebrities MTV VJ Cyrus Broacha, television- theatre personality Kunal Vijaykar, Javed Akhtar, singer Shankar, music composers Ehsaan, Loy and Leslie Lewis, director Farhan Akhtar, Miss India Earth Shweta Vijayan, Miss India World Ami Vashi and film actor Rahul Bose joined in to support this cause and influence Indian youth to vote.

According to The Indian Express Group CEO and editor-in-chief Shekhar Gupta, "The Black Ink On your Nail campaign is an initiative taken by the Express group to bring awareness of the importance of exercising their vote. India is the world's largest democracy and therefore it becomes imperative that the youth of India realise that besides it being a constitutional right, casting a vote can also make the future of this country."

Speaking on the release of the campaign anthem, Javed Akthar said "While writing the lyrics for this anthem, I went back to the days when I first voted and exercised my constitutional right to vote in free India. I want the youth of India to be motivated to vote and understand the consequence of their voting rights."

Besides launching the anthem, the media group will also launch ground activities from 1 April 2004 with a series of road shows spread across malls, theatres and railway stations across the city to encourage the youth to vote.

The roadshows will involve attracting crowds with the anthem with an MC dressed in a politician's attire building the entire show that would involve electoral speeches, games as well as interactive sessions where the audience can ask any questions related to the upcoming general elections. The winners of the games will receive prizes.

Apart from these prime activities, there will be posters put up at places such as multiplexes, shopping malls, gyms, coffee parlours and other youth hangouts.

The campaign is an attempt to involve the youth in actually getting them to realise their responsibility at election time and to motivate them to make a difference by casting their vote.

As for the event, all the invitees- press and celebrities alike- sported a black dot on their left hand finger. Let's hope the same is the case with the country's youth this election season.