Successful evacuation from Ukraine to have positive impact on polls: Shah

New Delhi, March 5:  Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said that the successful evacuation of Indian nationals from war-torn Ukraine will have positive impact on assembly elections.

Home Minister was addressing a press briefing at the BJP headquarters here. Underlining that the government has been keeping an eye on the situation in Ukraine since January, Union Minister said the government had issued an advisory as early as February 15 for Indians in Ukraine.

"Over 13,000 citizens have reached India and more flights are coming in. This process had a positive impact on elections and on the people also," Shah said, adding that the government has launched 'Operation Ganga' for the evacuation of Indians from Ukraine.

The Union Minister said that the government sent Russian-speaking teams to four nearby countries of Ukraine and also set up a control room. "Till March 4, we were successful in bringing out 16,000 citizens from Ukraine", he said.

Meanwhile, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia earlier in day informed that a total 6,222 Indian nationals have been evacuated from Romania and Moldova in the last seven days under the Operation Ganga. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Saturday advised Indian students stranded in Sumy, Ukraine to stay inside while assuring a safe corridor for students to pass is being negotiated with both the Russian and Ukrainian governments.