Uncertainty persists over voting by the refugees, who took shelter in Mizoram after the ethnic violence in neighbouring Manipur.
Around 10,000 men, women and children belonging to the Kuki-Zomi community fled to Mizoram after ethnic violence broke out in Manipur on March 3 last year.
Election officials both in Manipur and Mizoram separately said that no arrangements have been made so far to facilitate the voters from among the 10,000 refugees, now sheltered in different districts of Mizoram.
The elections in two Lok Sabha seats in Manipur and the lone seat in Mizoram would be held in the first and second phases on April 19 and April 26 respectively.
Manipur Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Pradeep Kumar Jha said the Election Commission (EC) has decided to set up special polling stations in relief camps in Manipur to facilitate voters living in the camps.
The Election Commission’s plan to set up special polling stations in relief camps is limited to the state’s territorial jurisdiction only, the CEO said in Imphal.
Election officials in Aizawl said that no proposal about voting by the refugees has been submitted from the CEO's office in Mizoram to the Election Commission.
The Manipur government is currently operating around 320 relief camps with more than 59,000 men, women and children staying there.
The 10,000 refugees from Manipur are staying in different relief camps, rented and relatives’ houses in Mizoram.
Aizawl district accommodates the highest number of around 4,500 refugees followed by 2,700 in Kolasib district, 1,300 in Saitual district, and the remaining in other districts.
Earlier voters among the 37,000 Reang refugees, who fled to Tripura due to ethnic troubles in Mizoram in 1997, were allowed to cast their vote through postal ballots in northern Tripura's relief camps.
In 2018, however, special polling stations were set up at a village in Mizoram along the inter-state borders with Tripura after some civil society organisations and youth groups demanded that the Reang migrants should not vote in the Tripura relief camps.
No Pakistani national in Tripura, says CM Manik Saha
The Chief Minister’s remarks came in response to the Central government's recent directive to all states and Union Territories to identify and deport Pakistani citizens following the April 22 terrorist attack at Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir.
India shuts airspace for all Pakistan-operated flights till May 23
In a significant development, India on Wednesday announced to shut its airspace for Pakistan-owned and operated flights till May 23 (estimated), days after Islamabad decided to shut its airspace to all flights owned and operated by the Indian carriers.
Tripura’s unemployment rate dropped after BJP came to power: CM Saha
Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Wednesday said that the unemployment rate in the state has significantly decreased during the past seven years after the BJP came to power in 2018.
Travesty of justice: Bangladesh SC stays High Court order granting bail to Chinmoy Das
The Appellate Division of the Bangladesh Supreme Court on Wednesday evening stayed the High Court order given earlier in the day granting bail to Chinmoy Krishna Das, or Chandan Kumar Dhar, the former ISKCON monk and spokesperson of Bangladesh Sammilito Sanatani Jagaran Jote in a sedition case.
Right step: Kharge welcomes govt’s move on caste census, demands budget allocation
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday welcomed the Central government’s decision to conduct a caste-based census, calling it a long-pending demand of the Opposition and a crucial step towards ensuring social justice.
Goyal holds talks in Oslo to strengthen India-Norway trade & investment ties
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal held separate meetings here, on Wednesday, with Norway’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Espen Barth Eide and the Scandinavian country’s Minister of Trade and Industry Cecilie Myrseth to discuss the implementation of the India-EFTA Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement and strengthen bilateral ties between the two countries.
21 MLAs urged PM, HM to reinstate govt in Manipur bypassing Guv: Congress
The Opposition Congress on Wednesday slammed 21 MLAs of Manipur for bypassing the state Governor and writing letters to the Prime Minister and Union Home Minister, urging them to reinstate a popular government in the state.
Caste count goes official: BJP seizes agenda; INDIA bloc faces strategic recalibration
In a landmark decision with far-reaching social and political implications, Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government has approved the inclusion of caste enumeration in the upcoming national Census.