No voting arrangement for Manipur’s displaced sheltered outside

People who fled the ethnic violence in Manipur and took refuge in the neighbourhood, specifically Mizoram, will be able to vote in the Lok Sabha elections only if they return to their home State. Some 12,000 Kuki-Zomi people took shelter in Mizoram, the government in Mizoram had claimed ahead of the Assembly elections in November 2023.

GUWAHATI People who fled the ethnic violence in Manipur and took refuge in the neighbourhood, specifically Mizoram, will be able to vote in the Lok Sabha elections only if they return to their home State.

Manipur’s Chief Electoral Officer Pradeep Kumar Jha said no voting arrangement had been made for people who left the State after the ethnic violence broke out on May 3, 2023, between the Kuki-Zomi and Meitei communities.

Some 12,000 Kuki-Zomi people took shelter in Mizoram, the government in Mizoram had claimed ahead of the Assembly elections in November 2023.

On March 16, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said the poll panel notified a scheme to allow the displaced voters of Manipur to exercise their franchise from their respective camps. Mr. Jha, however, told journalists that the scheme was limited to Manipur’s territorial jurisdiction.

The Manipur government has estimated that the number of internally displaced people within the State was 60,000 in relief camps across 10 violence-hit districts.

“People who left the State can vote if they return home or any district of Manipur where they would feel comfortable to be in for the electoral exercise,” a State Election Department officer said.

According to the Election Commission of India scheme, Manipur’s internally displaced people will be considered ordinary residents of the place where they have been displaced from and treated as electors of the original place.