JOIN USConcern over CAA-NRC prompts migrants to vote in Assembly polls; Covid-19 hits flow of NRIs for voting
Concerns over the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens has prompted migrant workers in Kerala to head to Assam and West Bengal to cast their votes in the Assembly elections.
Assam native Roshid, who works in a vegetable shop in Kochi, even booked a flight in the last minute by spending around Rs 15,000 to travel to his native place as he desperately wanted to cast votes in this Assembly election.
Unlike the previous elections, there is a considerable flow of migrant workers in Kerala from states like Assam and West Bengal to their native places to cast votes, which is believed to be due to concerns over issues like Citizenship Amendment Act and National Registry of Citizens.
According to NGOs working among the migrant workers in Kerala, usually migrant workers go for civic body elections only. But this time large number of migrants from Assam and West Bengal went to their native places for casting votes in the Assembly election.
Benoy Petre, executive director of the Centre for Migration and Inclusive Development, said that there were also instances of some migrants spending over Rs 15,000 for flight tickets to cast votes, like the case of Roshid from Assam. He said that there was a general apprehension among the migrant workers that their citizenship might be even affected if they did not vote this time. This seems to be the triggering factor for many to travel by even spending hefty amount for casting votes. A major chuck of the migrant workers in Kerala from states like Assam and West Bengal are from the Muslim community and are natives of border areas, he said.
Even as there are no authentic data on the number of migrant workers in Kerala, it was estimated to be even up to around 30 lakh. A major chunk of the migrants in Kerala are from West Bengal, Assam and Tamil Nadu that are going to Assembly polls now. Tamil Nadu being a state close to Kerala, the migrants won't face much difficulty in traveling. However the migrants to Assam and West Bengal are hiring buses to travel to their native place owing to inadequate trains due to Covid.
Covid hits NRIs' voting interest
Kerala, which has a high NRI population, used to witness NRIs even chartering flights in groups to come down to cast their votes in the Assembly and Parliament elections. But this time no such trends are evident so far, which is believed to be due to financial concerns and travel restrictions due to Covid.
Indian Overseas Congress convenor Mansoor Palloor said that this time there was not much enthusiasm among the NRI, especially in the Gulf countries, to come down and cast their votes. The key reason for this is the concerns among the NRIs over their job prospects as well as the travel restrictions owing to Covid. Already the NRIs had to tighten their belts owing to the economic crisis caused by Covid. Hence they would not be in a position to spend for coming down just for voting.
At present there are 93,415 overseas voters in Kerala electoral rolls.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, out of the 99,807 overseas voters who registered for casting votes in the country, 87,651 were were from Kerala. Of the 25,606 overseas voters who exercised their franchise in the country, 25,534 were in Kerala.