Aizawl: Mizoram chief electoral officer (CEO) Ashish Kundra on Tuesday appealed to all political parties and civil society organisations to cooperate with the Election Commission for ensuring peaceful elections in the state.
Election to the lone Lok Sabha seat and assembly by-election to Aizawl West-I seat will be held in a single phase on April 11.
In a meeting with representatives of registered political parties of the state in Aizawl on Tuesday, Kundra informed them about special arrangement made for Bru voters from six relief camps in Tripura to enable them cast votes at Kanhmun village along the state border with Tripura.
Although the Bru voters, who are declared as notified class of voters, used to exercise their franchise through postal ballots in relief camps in the previous elections, special polling stations have been set up for them at Kanhmun village since last assembly elections held in November last year after consultation with civil societies, he said.
He said that the Election Commission also conducted roll revision for Bru voters at the village from this year, which is a major departure from the earlier practice.
Earlier, roll revision for Bru voters was conducted in relief camps in Tripura. Kundra also assured representatives of political parties that he would communicate to the Election Commission about suggestion and complaints made by them.
The Election Commission on Saturday decided to set up 15 polling stations at Kanhmun village for Bru voters. There are about 12,000 Bru voters at six relief camps in Tripura.
Earlier the Bru leaders demanded that polling stations be set up at their respective relief camps. The Bru voters are mainly concentrated in 9 assembly constituencies in Lunglei, Mamit and Kolasib district.
Earlier the NGO Coordination Committee, an umbrella body of major civil societies and student organizations threatened to boycott the upcoming Lok Sabha polls unless arrangement were made to facilitate the Bru voters cast their votes in their respective polling stations in Mizoram.
In 2014 Lok Sabha polls, civil society groups staged a 72-hour strike against the EC’s decision to allow Bru voters exercise their franchise in Tripura relief camps, which forced the poll panel to differed the polls.
