Former Indian cricketer, Bharat Ratna awardee Sachin Tendulkar will become a “national icon” of the Election Commission (EC) of India, a MoU for which will be signed  on Wednesday.

The memorandum of understanding (MoU) will be signed between EC, represented by chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar and election commissioners Anup Chandra Pandey and Arun Goel, and Tendulkar, who has also been a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha, in this regard, reported TOI.

The legend's role in the three year agreement will help in raising voter awareness and educate the electorate about the significance of each vote in the electoral process.

“This collaboration would mark a significant step towards leveraging Tendulkar's unparalleled impact with the youth demographic for increasing voters' participation in the forthcoming elections, especially in General Elections 2024," said a statement by EC.

It said that through this partnership, EC aims to bridge the gap between citizens, especially youth and urban populations and the electoral process thereby, trying to address the challenges of urban and youth apathy.

According to a report by the Hindu, the Commission had last year recognised actor Pankaj Tripathi as a national icon. Earlier, during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni, actor Aamir Khan and boxer Mary Kom had been the poll body’s national icons.