NRIs get right to vote in Indian elections, promises Manmohan Singh

NRIs get right to vote in Indian elections, promises Manmohan Singh - The Times of India
.
.
JAIPUR: Fulfilling a long-standing demand of its diaspora, India Sunday said it would allow NRIs to vote and participate in the election process.
"Pursuant to the law that was enacted to enable Non-resident Indians to vote in our national elections, the government has issued notifications for registration of overseas electors under the Representation of People Act, 1950," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said.
"This constitutes the first major step to enable Indian residents abroad to participate in our election process," the prime minister said while addressing the annual Pravasi Bharatiya Divas diaspora meet here.
He said the diaspora plays an important role in the growth and development of the country. The government recognises it, and was committed to address their concerns and fulfil their demands.
"The government and people of India recognise and value the important role being played by Indian communities living abroad. We believe that Indian diaspora has much more to contribute to the building of modern India," the prime minister said.
"We propose to facilitate, encourage and promote this engagement. Over the past year, we have taken a number of steps towards this end," he added, as he formally inaugurated the 10th annual diaspora meet, the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) here.
Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi said NRIs would be able to exercise their franchise in upcoming elections.
"Indian nationals living abroad can now exercise their franchise in India at the time of the elections," Ravi said.
Now those NRIs who have registered with the embassies of their respective countries of stay, would be eligible to vote in the upcoming assembly elections in five states including Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur.
Polls will take place in these countries between Jan
28 and March 3. Ravi said objective of the government was to further increase engagements with diaspora.
"Our objective is to raise the level of engagement to go beyond mere investment related issues and address a broade agenda."
"We believe that this will provide the vast majority of you the opportunity to benefit from as well as contribute - each in your own way - to India's development story," the minister said. Later talking to media person, Ravi said this year's Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) is the largest congregation of Indian diaspora.
He said almost 1,900 delegates from around 60 countries were participating in the three-day event.

 

I recently surrendered my Indian passport . Can i still vote ???

 

nope .

 

I assume NRI here refers to Indian citizens who are presently residing outside India more a duration of more than 6 months. Then all that PM is talking about is extending the postal ballot facility to Indian citizens overseas. I believe armed forces personnel already have this facility.

 

Punjab elections; Manpreet will gain from this. Just wondering though, what constituency would NRIs fall under?

 

.
.
Yes, you can vote if you have PIO/NRI card or dual citizen card.

 

Dual citizen card??? Is there such a thing?? I thought India does not allow dual citizenship.

 

I believe many may have already registered for their voter IDs before they left the indian shores. Those will be easy tto accomodate. Those who do not have voter IDs, may be asked to register.

 

Maybe just as Armed force.

 

for POI it is doubtful as it may not indicate he is an Indian citizen, NRIs are those who are working abroad in an Indian Passports it might be possible, dual citizenship is not permissible as per Indian law.

 

Means they would be asked to bring their previous Indian residence proof and vote according to that?

Armed forces are different than NRIs. Armed forces personnel have permanent Indian residences, NRIs don't; as the name suggests, non-resident Indian.

So what does this mean? They will be allowed to vote on the account of their last residence in India?


EDIT: Nevermind, I guess the votes will be registered by account of the address on the Indian passport.

 

^^ Generally speaking to obtain a passport he need to be an Indian (condition applied), with proof of permanent residence, just like the PRC requirement for Armed personnel.

 

.
Ohooo!
Galti se mistake ho gaya.
Citizenship ke place pe card likh diya.
.
And last i heard India does allow dual citizenship but only to few PIO citizen of few selected countries.

 

I maybe be wrong the wiki page says even though Dual citizenship is not allowed their is a provision for limited dual citizenship
Indian nationality law - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

.
.
Ok, I might have mistaken this OCI card for dual citizenship............ Government of India decided to grant Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) which most people mistakenly refer as 'dual citizenship'. Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) of certain category who migrated from India and acquired citizenship of a foreign country other than Pakistan and Bangladesh, are eligible for grant of OCI as long as their home countries allow dual citizenship in some form or the other under their local laws.
.
.
India Dual citizenship

 

Yes i got OCI card.. can i vote with that??

 

I think he refers to OCI card. Overseas citizenship of India card

 

India govt allowed PIO card or OCI card to all citizen of all countries who qualify Except citizen or origin of Na-Pak , Afganistan, Sri-lanka, Bangladesh..