Russian Citizens in Kerala Cast Votes for Presidential Elections at Thiruvananthapuram Consulate

GG News Bureau
Thiruvananthapuram, 15th March. Russian citizens residing in Kerala exercised their voting rights for the Russian presidential elections at the Honorary Consulate of the Russian Federation, Russian House, in Thiruvananthapuram.

Ratheesh Nair, Honorary Consul of Russia and Director of the Russian House, expressed appreciation for the cooperation of Russian citizens in Kerala during the polling process.

“This is the third time the Consulate of the 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,” said Ratheesh Nair in an interview.

Sergey Azurov, Senior Consul General in Chennai, highlighted the importance of providing Russian citizens residing in India with the opportunity to participate in the preliminary voting for the presidential elections.

Ulia, a Russian citizen, expressed gratitude to the Russian House and the consulate general in India for facilitating the voting process.

“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,” Ulia said.

Russia is scheduled to hold presidential elections from March 15-17, with voting taking place across the country’s 11 time zones.

The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Russia has approved three candidates (Leonid Slutsky of the Liberal Democratic Party, Vladislav Davankov of the New People Party and Nikolay Kharitonov of the Communist Party) to oppose President Vladimir Putin.

With Putin’s reelection widely anticipated, his rule could extend until at least 2030, following constitutional changes in 2020.