- Wednesday, July 03, 2024
Ratheesh Nair, honorary consul of Russia and director of the Russian House, Thiruvananthapuram, said they have now arranged polling for the Russian presidential elections for the third time.
By: Shubham Ghosh
DATES for the 2024 general elections in India have still not been announced but some form of voting was already visible in the southern Indian state of Kerala on Thursday (15). There is no scheduled local election in the state either. Then what was this polling for.
It was actually the Russian citizens residing in Kerala who were casting ballots for the Russian presidential election that kicked off the same day at a booth which was specially arranged at the Honorary Consulate of the Russian Federation at the Russian House in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala.
The election will continue till Sunday (17).
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Ratheesh Nair, honorary consul of Russia and director of the Russian House, said they have now arranged polling for the Russian presidential elections for the third time. He expressed gratitude to the Russian citizens in Kerala for their cooperation in the polling process.
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Speaking to news agency Asian News International, Nair said, “This is the third time the Consulate of Russian Federation is hosting polling for the Russian presidential elections. This is actually for Russian nationalists staying here and also for the tourists. We are happy to associate with the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation. I am very grateful to the Russian citizens in Kerala for their cooperation and enthusiasm to cast votes in the process of electing their new president.”
Sergey Azurov, senior Russian consul general in Chennai, the capital of the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu, said, “We are organizing preliminary voting in the framework of presidential elections. We are here to provide an opportunity for the citizens of Russian federations living in India.”
Ulia, a Russian citizen, said fellow natives in Kerala are thankful to the Russian House and consulate general in India for providing them the opportunity to cast votes in the Presidential polls.
Speaking to ANI, Ulia said, “Everyone who came today is Russian citizens either residing permanently in India or are visiting tourists. Everybody is thankful and happy to come here and participate in the election, which is very important for every citizen. This is our responsibility. So, we are thankful to the Russian house and the consulate general in India from Chennai for providing this chance.”
Russians will vote across the country’s 11 time zones during the three-day election. Russia’s election commission approved only three candidates to oppose Russian president Vladimir Putin, who is expected to win a fifth term, in this election, CNN reported.
The three candidates are Leonid Slutsky of the Liberal Democratic Party, Vladislav Davankov of the New People Party and Nikolay Kharitonov of the Communist Party. All three men are thought to be satisfactorily pro-Kremlin and none is against Russia’s military action against Ukraine.
As the majority of opposition candidates are either dead, jailed, exiled, barred from running or simply token figures, a victory for Putin is all but guaranteed, according to a CNN report.
Putin’s reelection would extend his rule until at least 2030. Following constitutional changes in 2020, he would then be able to run again and potentially stay in power until 2036.
Last month, Alexei Navalny, one of Putin’s most prominent opponents, was found dead under mysterious conditions in a remote Arctic penal colony.
On the eve of the election, a court in Moscow sentenced two university students to more than three years for their alleged involvement with Navalny.
(With ANI inputs)
