Here is why voting is held in Kerala for Russian presidential election

ANI

Thiruvananthapuram, March 15

Russian citizens residing in Kerala cast their vote for the Russian presidential election at the booth specifically arranged at the Honorary Consulate of the Russian Federation, Russian House, in Thiruvananthapuram.

Ratheesh Nair, Honorary Consul of Russia and Director of the Russian House in Thiruvananthapuram, said they had arranged polling for the Russian presidential election for the third time. He expressed gratitude to the Russian citizens in Kerala for their cooperation in the polling process.

In an interview with ANI, Nair said, "This is the third time the Consulate of Russian Federation is hosting polling for the Russian presidential election. This is actually for Russian nationalists staying here and also for the tourists. We are happy to associate with the Central Election Commission of Russian Federation. I am very grateful to the Russian citizens in Kerala for their cooperation and enthusiasm to cast vote in the process of electing their new president."

Sergey Azurov, Senior Consul General in Chennai, said, "We are organising preliminary voting in the framework of presidential election. We are here to provide an opportunity for the citizens of Russian federations living in India."

Ulia, a Russian citizen, said fellow natives in Kerala are thankful to the Russian house and consulate general in India for providing them the opportunity to cast vote in the presidential polls.

Speaking to ANI, Ulia said, "Everyone who came today are 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."

Russia is all set to hold presidential election from March 15-17. Russian citizens will vote from Friday until Sunday across the 11 time zones of the country. Russia's Central Election Commission approved only three candidates to oppose Russian President Vladimir Putin, CNN reported.

The three candidates standing against Putin are Leonid Slutsky of the Liberal Democratic Party, Vladislav Davankov of the New People Party and Nikolay Kharitonov of the Communist Party. All three men are thought to be satisfactorily pro-Kremlin and none is against Russia's military action against Ukraine.

As the majority of opposition candidates are either dead, jailed, exiled, barred from running or simply token figures, a victory for Putin is all but guaranteed, according to a CNN report.

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