1,348 Bru Voters deleted from Mizoram electoral roll?

The names of as many as 1,348 Bru voters’ have been deleted from the Mizoram state voters list, state electoral officials stated.

The total number of voters names deleted rose to 1,348 after 89 Bru voters were removed from the list recently.

Meanwhile, the names of over 11,000 Bru voters continue to be enrolled in Mizoram voters’ list despite the fact that these Bru voters have been lodged at Tripura relief camps for over 25 years and have even cast their votes in the Tripura state elections despite strong opposition from civil societies and student organisations.

Officials said that while the Tripura election officials have reported to have enrolled a total of 5,009 Bru voters in the Tripura voters’ lists, only 1,348 names have so far been deleted from the Mizoram electoral rolls.

In this regard, Mizoram election department officials had written to the Election Commission of India asking the poll panel to urge the Tripura election officials to expedite providing information to their Mizoram counterparts through ERONet on deletion of Bru voters’ names.

Officials further said that the names of Bru voters, still enrolled in Mizoram electoral rolls were in three assembly constituencies of Mamit, Kolasib and Lunglei districts.

As per sources, 1,144 voters names have been deleted in Mamit district’s Hachhek, Dampa and Mamit assembly constituencies, 187 names from Kolasib district’s Serlui, Kolasib and Tuirial constituencies and 17 voters names from Lunglei district’s Thorang, West Tuipui and Lunglei south constituencies.

It may be mentioned here that the Bru voters’ names began to be enrolled in Tripura electoral rolls and correspondingly deleted from Mizoram lists after an agreement was reached on January 16, 2020 to settle over 37 thousand Bru migrants in Tripura, facilitating the enrolment of the Bru voters in Tripura and subsequent deletion of their names from Mizoram voters lists.