Bollywood actor Rajkummar Rao has been appointed as a National Icon by the Election Commission. The Election Commission selects prominent individuals in India as national icons to encourage voter participation. This annual initiative serves as a public relations activity conducted by the Election Commission. Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar formally appointed Rajkummar Rao during a ceremony.
Assembly elections are set to happen in many states like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana, Chhattisgarh etc. in the upcoming months. For better results in the election, active participation of citizens is necessary. National Icon will play exactly this role to explain the importance of elections in democracy to people and motivate them to vote.
Rajkummar Rao has given fantastic performances in many movies, like Stree, Trapped, Badhai Ho, Ludo, etc. But the decision to make him a National Icon came due to the movie ‘Newton’, released in 2017. The film received the ‘National Film Award for Best Feature Film’. Along with this, the movie has been awarded with the ‘Filmfare Award for Best Story’, ‘Asian Film Award for Best Screenplay’ and many other awards. The movie is about an election happening in the Naxalite region. Rajkummar Rao played the role of a sincere government clerk in the election commission. Apart from all the difficulties, he tries to conduct a fair election in the Naxalite regions. It is a really honest character who performs his duty with full faith. He received the ‘Screen Award for Best Actor’ for his performance in Newton.
Taking this into consideration, the Election Commission took the decision to appoint Rajkummar Rao as a national icon. Earlier this year, Sachin Tendulkar, Pankaj Tripathi, Amir Khan and M C Mary Kom were appointed as national icons by the EC.