The first time voters among the Bru refugees of Mizoram taking shelter in Tripura for over two decades are in a dilemma.They are completely unaware whether their names have been included in the final electoral rolls published in Mizoram on Friday.
Leaders of the forum of the displaced Bru refugees have contacted the competent authorities to ascertain the facts.
Around
12,018 voters from among the over 35,000 Reang tribal immigrants were
enrolled in the electoral list of Mizoram till last year and 60 per cent
of them have cast votes in the November 28 Mizoram Assembly polls.
According to the tribal leaders over 6,000 more people are now eligible for enrolment in as first-time voters.
The
Mizoram Election Department officials said eligible candidates with
proper residential proof of the Mizoram government would certainly have
their names included in the voters’ list.
The final electoral
rolls, published by Mizoram Chief Electoral Officer Ashish Kundraon, the
total number of 7,84,748 electorates, comprises 14,032 new voters and
4,02,408 women.
Meanwhile, there is also no confirmation from the election office in Aizawl.
During
the Assembly polls late last year for the Mizoram Legislative Assembly,
15 special polling stations were set up at Kanhmun, a village along the
Mizoram-Tripura border, to facilitate voting of the Bru refugees.
Over
35,000 Reang tribal refugees, comprising 5,907 families, have been
staying in Tripura’s Kanchanpur and Panisagar sub-divisions for the past
21 years following ethnic tension after a Mizo forest official was
killed in the neighbouring state.
