Bru members set to cast vote in Mizoram: CEO

Press Trust of India  |  Aizawl 

Members of the Bru community, currently lodged in six relief camps of Tripura, will be exercising their franchise in when it goes to polls on November 28, a top said Monday.

The tenure of the 40-member Assembly expires on December 15.

"The Election Commission of (ECI) has instructed officials in the state to make poll arrangements in for displaced Bru families," (CEO) SB told reporters here.

The ECI, however, was yet to issue detailed guidelines on the process that needs be followed to move Bru voters to for the polling exercise, he said.

"Of the 11,232 Bru voters in - 8,777 are from district, along Mizoram-Bangladesh-border, 1,732 from Kolasib district of the state, along border, and 723 from southern Mizoram's district," the said.

During the 2013 assembly elections, Bru members were able to cast votes from their respective relief camps. The following year, too, displaced voters had exercised their franchise for from

An said on the condition of anonymity that making adequate arrangements for Bru voters to cast votes in their respective polling stations would be a "herculean task".

He suggested establishing designated polling stations at a border town inside the state for the displaced people.

"Setting up designated polling stations at a border town, like Kanhmun, where Bru voters can exercise their franchise, might be the best bet," he added.

The voters' list in six Tripura relief camps were updated recently along with rest of the state amid protests by members of civil societies, who demanded that the process be undertaken after the final repatriation process.

Thousands of Bru refugees from Mizoram fled to Tripura after ethnic violence of 1997. The clashes broke out after a was killed by Bru (BNLF) militants.

The Centre, in association with the governments of Mizoram and Tripura, had been trying to repatriate displaced Brus in phases.

The final repatriation process, however, fizzled out as only around 50 of 5,4007 families shifted to Mizoram between August and September.

Bru members have cited "unsatisfactory repatriation package" as reason for not returning to their home state.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Mon, October 08 2018. 14:25 IST