Jharkhand’s first NRI voter Dr. Indranil Sinha has renounced his Indian citizenship. He has now become a citizen of Sweden. This was revealed when BollywoodWallah correspondent contacted him to know about the voting trends of NRI voters in the Lok Sabha elections. He told that he has surrendered his Indian citizenship.
Indranil Sinha is the only NRI who has voted in Jharkhand so far. He had exercised his franchise in the 2019 Jharkhand Legislative Assembly elections. Indranil Sinha, originally a resident of Deoghar, has been living in Sweden for the last two decades.
Indranil Sinha, a medical scientist by profession, tells BollywoodWallah that due to living in Sweden for a long time, it had become necessary to acquire citizenship here. He is very fond of his birthplace and soil. If there was a provision for dual citizenship in India, he would never have given up his Indian passport.
What is NRI?
Actually, Indian citizens living outside India are called Non-Resident Indians or NRI. NRIs get the right to vote only when their names appear in the voter list. In such a situation, to vote, NRIs have to appear at the polling station on the election day with their passport. For your information, let us also tell you that at present there is no provision for voting through post, voting in Indian missions or online voting for NRIs.
There are so many NRI voters in Jharkhand, it is difficult to say how many will vote.
According to Jharkhand Election Office, there are currently 123 NRI voters. It is difficult to say how many of them will come to Jharkhand and vote in the Lok Sabha elections. Earlier in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the number of NRI voters in Jharkhand was 10. Not even one of them had voted. Earlier in 2014 there was one NRI voter.
Thousands live abroad, but do not become voters
Thousands of people of Jharkhand live abroad for livelihood or studies. There is a provision of the Election Commission that if a person does not stay at his place of residence for more than 6 months, he cannot vote. They will have to register their names in the voter list only at the place where they have lived for more than 6 months.
The same rule applies to Indians living abroad. They can come to Jharkhand and vote only after registering their names as NRI voters. For this, his name will be registered separately from the general voter list. While voting, they will also have to show their passport.
Why do NRIs not become voters and why do they not vote even after becoming voters? Regarding this, Vineeta Ghosh (PhD Scholar, Israel) says that for an Indian living abroad, frequent travel becomes quite costly. Sometimes I don’t even get time. However, he gave more emphasis on costly transportation.
This is how NRI voters are made
Form 6A has to be filled online and submitted to the office of the Election Commission.
- Your passport must be attested by a competent office of the Indian Mission in the country where you are currently residing.
- Scan your filled form along with a copy of your attested passport and other documents.
- If online registration is supported for your region, you can create a login ID with password.
- If you do not have this option, you can send these soft copies to the email of the state election website.
These conditions must be met
No provision for NRI till 2010
Let us tell you that according to the Representation of the People Act 1950, there was no provision for NRIs till the year 2010. The Act was then amended to include NRIs to allow them to apply for their voter ID cards outside India.
The amendment allows any NRI, who does not have citizenship in any country other than the one where he resides, to enroll for his Voter ID card, provided he is 18 years of age. The purpose of staying in another country can be education, business, employment, family etc. The only condition is that you should not be a citizen of that country.
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