The Election Commission is planning to rope in celebrities to create awareness among the voters towards their right to franchise before the 2012 Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh.

"We are on a look out for celebrities from Uttar Pradesh in the field of sports, films, media or culture to issue appeals and messages to mobilise more and more people to exercise their franchise," chief electoral officer of the state, Umesh Sinha told PTI.

These celebrities would be utilised specially for creating awareness among the rural electorate or the newly enrolled youth and, if required, they could be asked to conduct some programmes in the rural areas, Sinha said.

The celebrities who would be picked up for this campaign would be totally non-political as this exercise has to be kept away from all kinds of politics, he said, adding that voters would be made aware of the importance of their votes and how they have to keep themselves free of all kinds of pressures while casting their ballot.

The Commission has given the slogan 'mazboot loktantra sabki bhagidari' (strong democracy depends on everybody's participation) on its diamond jubilee and this step is a move in the direction of ensuring maximum participation in the electoral process, Sinha said.