Expatriates take ‘ Vote Vimanam’ to fly from Gulf, will exercise franchise in Kerala polls tomorrow

MUSTAFA TIRUR ( 53) has been running a store in Dubai for 28 years but has not missed a single election in India. A native of Kerala's Malappuram, Tirur comes home to vote even for municipal body polls and says it is his duty as an Indian citizen to ensure his vote doesn’t go to waste.

This year, he is more proactive. On his way to welcome a batch of expatriates on board the "vote vimanam" ( vote flight), a chartered flight from UAE organised by Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre, which is affiliated with the Indian Union Muslim League, Mustafa says there is growing apprehension among non- resident Keralites that democratic values in the country are eroding. "In Dubai, we Malayalis tend to live close by and all of us fear that the country is headed towards a different direction,” said Tirur.

This time, as the polls coincided with Eid and Vishu season, the prices of flights skyrocketed and the Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre ( KMCC) stepped in, much to the relief of scores of non- resident Indians. "I just had to pay 349 UAE dirhams ( Rs 7,90 0) compared to commercial tickets, which were priced at 800- 1100 Dirhams ( Rs 18,000- 22,000),” he says.

Around 3,0 00 people from UAE alone have flown down so far to cast their votes in Kerala which is set to go to the polls on April 26.

While the UAE chapter of the KMCC has chartered flights, the units in a few countries negotiated with travel agencies to secure discounts. KMCC is the biggest Indian diaspora group in the Gulf with lakhs of members and arranged flights for emigrants when the Covid- 19 pandemic broke out. Other groups such as Overseas Indian Cultural Congress are also chartering flights for expatriates, ahead of elections.

According to the Kerala Migration Survey of 2018, there are 2.1 million emigrants from Kerala across the world or 24 out of 10 0 households have a migrant. The estimated total remittances to Kerala is Rs 85,092 crores as per this survey. About 90 per cent of Kerala migrants leave for the six Gulf countries for temporary contract employment. Malappuram district has the maximum number of migrants 42.1 of every 100 households, followed by Kannur at 38.8. The number of NRI voters in Kerala is 89,839, with Kozhikode topping the list at 35,793.

Anees Mohammad, a KMCC member and Malappuram resident, says a majority of the expatriates leaving to vote are from the area between North Kozhikode and Kannur, where Vadakara constituency falls. The region sees a fierce fight between Congress’s Shafi Parambil and the CPI( M)’ s K K Shailaja. Shafi, who is the Palakkad MLA, even paid a visit to the Gulf on a twoday trip to meet the expatriates.

"Shailaja teacher is a crowdpuller and the poll battle seems to be challenging, but Shafi Parambil has reached out to various groups in the constituency, including the expatriates. KMCC has also conducted various outreach programmes abroad through meetings, both online and offline to secure their support for Shafi," said Mohammad.

Though the BJP has limited influence in the state, Anees echoes Mustafa’s concerns. "Apart from the usual practice of chartering flights, people seem to have a personal stake in this election. Earlier in the Gulf, Indians were viewed as part of a diverse country... Old people would come up to us to speak of the relationship shared by Indira Gandhi and HH Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the father of the nation and UAE’S first president. PM Narendra Modi has visited the UAE several times, but the government is not seen in a good light," said Anees adding that India’s falling performance in several indices, including freedom of press, has been conspicuous.

Anver Naha, general secretary of KMCC UAE chapter, said the reason people are ready to go home to cast their votes is in the inherent political character of Kerala. "The heat during elections is as high in the Gulf as Kerala. The voter turnout in Kerala is usually higher than most states in India because we are deeply political. It is in our blood,” he says.

While KMCC’S ef forts to bring in as many voters have been fruitful, leaders of CPIM’S cultural organisations such as Pratibha in Bahrain and Kala in Kuwait said they have limited funds. "We are ordinary people and cannot book flights for voters. That being said, we had a convention and campaigned for all the LDF candidates through committees set up to engage with voters. Around 500 people have gone to Kerala so far for elections,” said CK Noushad ( 55), a member of Kala.

Express Around 3,000 people from UAE alone have flown down to cast their votes in Kerala.