Congress candidate from Kerala reaches out to NRI voters; Efforts to charter flights on

Thiruvananthapuram: Amidst attempts by all political parties to tap NRI votes, a Congress candidate from Kerala has even gone abroad to meet voters in person and pursue them to come down to Kerala for casting their votes.

Indian associations affiliated to the political parties have also started steps to charter flights for NRI voters to come down for voting.

Congress MLA Shafi Paramabil, who is contesting at Vadakara Lok Sabha seat that spreads over Kozhikode and Kannur districts, visited Sharjah as the  Overseas Indian Cultural Congress, which is affiliated to the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), organised a reception to him.

Shafi, who is taking on former health minister K K Shailaja, received a rousing reception at Sharjah. He interacted with voters and urged them to try to come down for casting votes.

With the airfares already escalating due to school vacations, many forums of NRIs have also started preparations for chartering flights for NRIs to make available affordable travel options for those who wish to travel down for casting votes.

Indian Overseas Congress's Middle East convenor Mansoor Palloor told DH that NRIs were showing more interest in travelling down for casting their votes as this election is considered as a very crucial one.

"Already many individuals are trying to club their annual vacations with the election dates in India and started booking flight tickets. This apart, various forums of NRIs are also making arrangements for chartering flights," he said.

He also lamented that despite the country making much advancement in technology, it was unfortunate that e-voting facility for NRIs could not be introduced yet.

Vadakkara is witnessing a prestigious battle this time as the CPM is trying to win back the seat, which comprises CPM strongholds like Thalasserry and Kuthuparamba in Kannur district. The region has a considerable NRI population and hence the Congress candidate went abroad.

Meanwhile, sources close to Shailaja said that so far there were no plans for the CPM candidate to go abroad and seek votes.

Of the 88,223 NRI voters in Kerala registered with the election commission, the majority are from Kozhikode - 34,909, followed by Malappuram (15,106) and Kannur (13,377).

During earlier elections also NRI outfits associated with political parties used to charter flights for facilitating NRIs to come down and cast votes.