NRK voters a new factor in political scene

Arjun Raghunath
The New Indian Express
08 Apr 2011

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It will be of no surprise if the candidates of all political parties in north Kerala districts come up with a slew of sops for the non-resident Keralites (NRKs) because majority of the expatriates who are expected to cast their votes as NRK voters in the coming Assembly elections hail from the northern districts.
Out of the 8,835 NRKs who have enrolled themselves in the electoral rolls, 2,628 are from Kozhikode. While Kannur stands in the second position with 1,958 NRK voters, Malappuram has 1,861 NRK voters. The lowest number of NRK voters are from Idukki district, 32. Wayanad has only 97 NRK voters. Among the 8,835 NRKs who have enrolled their names, 321 are women.
Though voting rights for NRKs had been a long-pending demand of the pravasis, the number of persons who have decided to enroll their names in the electoral rolls is very low when compared to the total number of NRKs, which is estimated to be above 20 lakh. The delay in finalising the procedure for enrolling the names as well as the grim job scenario in Gulf countries are cited as two major reasons for this.
“There was inordinate delay from the Centre in finalising the procedure for enrolling names in the voters’ list. Moreover, the NRKs in countries like Bahrain, Oman and Saudi Arabia were quite disturbed by the turmoil in these countries, which is also one reason which affected many NRKs from enrolling their names in the electoral rolls,’’ Indo-Arab Confederation Council chairman and Pravasi Coordination Committee convener Attakoya Pallikandy said.
Moreover, it is quite impractical that the NRKs will come down to Kerala on leave just to cast their votes. Only those who will be in Kerala on annual leave during the time of elections will have the chance to exercise their franchise, says a section of Dubai-based NRKs.
Though the number of NRK voters are quite low, their family members can play a crucial role in the elections. All political parties have their feeder organisations in foreign countries, where there are considerable number of Malayalis, and the feeder organisations are engaged in verbal campaign among NRKs, Attakoya said.
The total number of NRK voters in other districts are as follows: Thiruvananthapuram - 230, Kollam - 204, Pathanamthitta - 296, Alappuzha - 166, Kottayam - 111, Ernakulam - 107, Thrissur - 385, Palakkad - 269, Wayanad - 97 and, Kasargod - 491.