Kozhikode: Several NRI's from Kerala have returned home to cast their votes in the Lok Sabha elections tomorrow. In Kozhikode district, which has the highest number of NRI voters, nearly 90 per cent of them have already arrived here.
Out of 35,793 voters, charity organisations namely Kerala Muslim Cultural Center (KMCC) and INCAS brought back 29,300 NRIs and the fifth plane with NRI voters is scheduled to land today at Karipur. Around 120 voters will arrive in an Air Arabia flight from UAE at around 4:30 pm. Most of those who arrived in the last few days are voters from Vadakara constituency.
Around a dozen 'vote flights' have been arranged from Saudi Arabia and other countries. Many arrived here for Eid-ul-Fitr celebrations and then stayed back for the elections. Organisations have reached out to NRIs based in the Gulf nations for bringing them back. KMCC's Jeddah unit alone has 25,000 members.
In other districts too there is a significant number of NRIs who returned home to exercise their franchise. In Kannur, Kasargod and Malappuram nearly 20,000 NRI voters have returned home from the Gulf countries in the last two weeks. Some NRIs came in special chartered flights.
Abdu Rahiman Randathani, leader of the Indian Union Muslim League, said that since the elections were announced, their charity organisation KMCC had begun to take efforts to get Malayalees living in Arab countries to return home to vote. He said that KMCC has strong roots in Gulf countries.
"With the help of KMCC, the NRIs negotiated with the airlines to reduce their air fares. Around 10,000 people have already returned home in Malappuram district alone. A few more people are expected to arrive by tomorrow," he said.
According to Randathani, during the last Lok Sabha elections too, a large number of Malayalees came from the Gulf countries to vote.
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