Can an NRI contest elections?
Most of you must have read the about the news last week regarding Rajya Sabha MP from Kerala, Hon. Abdul Wahab who had to get off the Kozhikode-Kochi flight after an incident involving the pilot.
What got my attention though was that Sh. Wahab was mentioned as an “NRI” in some news-reports:
“…Elected to the Rajya Sabha on an Indian Union Muslim League ticket in 2004, Wahab is one of the richest and most well known NRI entrepreneurs in the Gulf with interests ranging from real estate to shipping to hospitality.”
which begs the question: Can NRIs contest elections? and still continue to be NRI?*
According to this report, they can:
“…can an NRI contest election? Kumar, who was once convener of TRS’s human resources development panel, says: “Yes, as long as the NRI carries an Indian passport, he can.”
As far as I know, NRIs (even those with Indian passports) cannot vote from abroad and those without Indian passports cannot vote at all…(although there may be proposals to change this).
So while NRIs may be able to contest elections, can they still hold their “Non Resident” status after they have been elected?
Should NRIs be encouraged to contest elections and vote from abroad? How about “dual citizens”? and how about “Persons of Indian Origin”? How about Rahul Gandhi?
Comments and thoughts welcome.
* Technically, Sh. Wahab did not actually contest any election since he was nominated for Rajya Sabha by IUML.
Yes, NRIs can contest election as NRIs are still Indian citizens residing abroad. PIO can not contest election as they are not Indian ctizens by definition.
There is proposal that dual citizens should be allowed to contest and vote in elections.
Definition of NRIs and PIOs: (From Wikipedia)
“A non-resident Indian (NRI) is an Indian citizen who has migrated to another country, a person of Indian origin who is born outside India, or a person of Indian origin who resides outside India.
A Person of Indian Origin (PIO) is usually a person of Indian origin who is not a citizen of India. “
This is preposterous, to say the least. NRIs/PIOs or any other such folks can be part of any high level advisor group but there is no way they should be allowed to be part of any legilative/constituitional bodies. However NRI being an indian citizen should retain his right to vote.
Thanks for posting it. I was also of the opinion that they cannot contest elections. And I would bet he loses if he stands in the elections. No wonder, he got nominated and by none other than IUML.
From NRI can vote soon: Manmohan Singh