As the Lok Sabha election scene hots up in Kerala, state capital Thiruvananthapuram saw votes being cast for another big election on Thursday.
Close to 60 Russian nationals queued up at a polling booth opened at the Russian House here to cast their votes for the Russian Presidential elections.
The Presidential elections, which has Russian President Vladimir Putin and three other candidates in the fray, is being held from March 15 (Friday) to March 17 (Sunday) in Russia. But Russian citizens in places like Thiruvananthapuram had the opportunity to exercise their franchise on Thursday.
In India, polling booths have been opened at the Russian Embassy in New Delhi, the Russian Consulates in Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata, and in Goa, Koodankulam and Thiruvananthapuram. Polling will be held in Koodankulam on Friday.
Voters who queued up to cast votes in Thiruvananthapuram included Russian nationals residing in Kerala and tourists.
Unlike India which has shifted to Elctronic Voting Machines (EVM), Russian elections use paper ballots.
The ballots will be despatched to the Election Commission office in Moscow via the Russian Consulate General, Chennai, ratheesh C. Nair, Honorary Consul of Russia and Director, Russian House, said.
These votes will be counted after the final phase of polling for the Presidential Elections ends in Russia on March 17.
Mr. Putin aside, the Presidential elections have as candidates Vladislav Davankov, deputy chair of the Russian Duma and a member of the New People caucus; Leonid Slutsky, the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR), and the Communist Party nominee, Nikolai Kharitonov.
This is not the first time that a polling booth has been opened in Thiruvananthapuram for Russian elections. The Russian House, which houses the Honorary Russian Consulate, had booths twice before for the Russian Presidential elections and twice for the Russian Parliament elections, Mr. Ratheesh Nair said.
Sergey Azarov, Senior Consul at the Russian Consulate General, Chennai; Vice Consul Alexey Taresov, and Russian House Deputy Director Kavitha Nair coordinated the polling polling held from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
