Expat voters arrive in large numbers in Kerala

MALAPPURAM: With only a few hours remaining for the election day, the district witnessed a surge in arrival of expat voters en masse from various Gulf countries. The voters from various constituencies in the district landed here as part of an extensive campaign of various organisations in the Gulf.

A team of 60 expat voters landed at the Karipur International Airport on Saturday morning in an Air India flight from Dubai. Marking the beginning of the vote flight, another team of 52 voters arrived on Friday from Abu Dhabi.

Following close fights between the UDF and LDF in various constituencies, various expat organisations with different political leanings were active in bringing voters to their native constituencies. They also set up online registration facilities in Gulf countries to enrol maximum number of expat voters. Apart from political parties, religious organisation like AP Sunni faction’s ICF are also active in bringing voters home.

This time a relatively strong Left wave across various constituencies, especially in Tanur, had forced the Muslim League’s KMCC for a rigorous campaign in Gulf Countries. As per the latest electoral roll, Malappuram has 3,933 expat voters.
Tirur constituency tops the list with 1,158 voters and Tanur comes second 566 expat voters.

KMCC sources say more voters will reach before the dawn on the polling day. Most of the voters have only a few days off from their work. The voters have also got huge discounts in air fare during a peak season.