NRI Kannadigas demand voting power via embassies

Hubballi: About 5 lakh NRI Kannadigas are mostly unable to excercise their franchise as only a few of them travel to their hometowns to cast their vote. This time, Kannadigas residing in Italy, England, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and other countries have approached the Election Commission of India and their respective embassy or Consulate General of India’s (CGI) office seeking postal voting or polling booths at their respective embassies. They have also filed a public interest litigation in the Karnataka high court, where a hearing is scheduled for May 2.Ravi Mahadev, joint secretary of Sagarottara Kannadigaru, an association registered in the UK, to represent overseas Kannadigas throughout the world, told TOI that he came to Mysuru to vote on May 10. “The cost of visiting India for elections is high. Neither the ECI nor the government encourage us to vote. Though there is a provision to register our name as overseas Kannadiga in Form-6A, it does not provide postal voting or booth in the countries where we work. Hence, we have approached the high court,” he stated.Association president Chandrashekhar Lingadalli, who has also come to Banahatti, his hometown in Bagalkot, from Dubai, said non-resident Kannadigas have started a campaign to submit memorandums to their respective embassies. “The number of eligible NRI Kannadigas are of three types - working, dependents and students. When countries like Algeria, Philippines, Italy and Romania allow their citizens to vote by setting up polling booths at their embassies, why is it not possible for about 60 lakh NRIs?,” he asked.Hemegowda Rudrappa has submitted a memorandum to CGI in Italy, while Ravi Mahadeva has submitted a memorandum to the chief electoral officer, Karnataka, in Bengaluru.