Thiruvananthapuram: Maldives presidential election has sparked off excitement in Kerala as polling took place in Thiruvananthapuram, the only booth in India for Maldivians residing here to cast their votes.
The polling booth is at the Maldives Consulate in Kumarapuram in Thiruvananthapuram. In India, there are 412 Maldivian voters. Polling started from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm today. A poll percentage of 50 was recorded till noon.
Police personnel were posted at the booth in Kumarapuram during the polling process. Most of the Maldivian citizens had come to India seeking treatment in hospitals namely Thiruvananthapuram Medical College and Regional Cancer Center. Majority of the Maldivian voters are from Thiruvananthapuram.
Seven candidates are in the fray for the presidential elections including the current President of Maldives, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih. After polling, both the counting of votes and announcement of results will take place today itself. A total of 2.82 lakh Maldivian citizens are eligible to cast their votes.
Ilyas Labeeb is the candidate of former President Mohammad Nasheed's Democratic Party and Ibrahim Mohammad Solih's main opponent. Maldives Consulate Administrator Ben Johnson told ETV Bharat that there was a huge voter turnout at India's only polling booth today.
Apart from Kerala, natives of Maldives are located in Mysuru, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi. Ben Johnson said that many voters arrived from these places early this morning to cast their vote for the presidential election.
A sizeable Maldivian population resides in many overseas locations including Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Britain and United Arab Emirates. Thus, voting is being conducted in these countries as well.
