This was one of the several innovative ideas pushed by the Assam rifles, civil society groups and the local non-profits to encourage voters.
A craze for selfies is a catalyst behind the record voter's turnout in the first phase of assembly elections in Halfong, the picturesque hill town in Assam's Dima Hasao district.
Despite heavy rains on Monday and bad roads, young people have flocked to the booths, drawn by a selfie contest titled, "Cast your vote and submit a selfie on Whatsapp." The voting figure was 81.67%.
This was one of the several innovative ideas pushed by the Assam rifles and local non-profits like short films, door to door visits, street plays, massive use of whatsapp, facebook and short films to encourage voters, especially the first time voters.
Voters were also noticeably high even in extremely remote villages along the Haflong-Silchar border where there is no road communucation and polling officers had to walk 4-6 hours on foot to reach there.
"The results have been wonderful, with more than expected people voting and participating in the selfie contest," said Ashim Majumder, secretary of a civil society group.
"Smartphones are extremely popular among the youth, which comprises a significant percentage of the voters in Halflong. These are simple and effective ideas to which young voters can relate," said Brigadier Sanjay Vishwasrao, 22nd sector, Assam Rifles.
Halflong -- home to 13 tribes and 6 non-tribes used to be a militant affected area that has seen lot of bloodbath over the past two decades.
Even a few of years ago, the area saw heavy presence of militant groups like the dreaded KPLT, NSCN(IM) and other disbanded outfits.
Ruled by the Dima Hasao Autonomous Council, the area has porous borders which put it at risk of militant infiltration.
But the area is crying out for attention. Bad roads, poor infrastructure, better education, medical facilities, higher education and more vocational training are among their major causes of concern.
"The fact that people are coming out in large numbers to exercise their democratic rights shows that a little encouragement can go a long way," said presiding officer Bobita.