"This is our responsibility": Voting held in Kerala for Russian Presidential polls

Ratheesh Nair, Honorary Consul of Russia and Director of the Russian House in Thiruvananthapuram, said, that they arranged polling for the Russian presidential elections for the third time. He expressed gratitude to 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 elections. 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 votes 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 elections. 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 votes 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 elections 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 (CEC) 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.

Putin's reelection would extend his rule until at least 2030. Following constitutional changes in 2020, he would then be able to run again and potentially stay in power until 2036. (ANI)