A total of 11,241 Bru voters, part of the 35,000-odd Mizoram refugees living in six camps in north Tripura, voted through postal ballots from April 1 to 3. About 71 per cent polling was recorded amid strong opposition from as many as nine Mizoram-based NGOs and civil society groups which demanded that the refugees be brought back to Mizoram which goes to polls on April 9. Their demand was refused by the EC.
Tripura CEO Ashutosh Jindal on Saturday said polling officials from Mizoram, who supervised the voting process, had returned to Aizawl.
"As per the direction of EC, the Mizoram CEO has decided to finish the counting process in Tripura itself. The boxes have been kept in a strong-room in Kanchanpur under the supervision of central paramilitary forces," Jindal said.
The EC will deploy the required number of officials from Mizoram for counting which will take place on May 16. Tripura government officials will also facilitate the process, Jindal added.
Meantime, Mizoram-based civil society groups have decided to boycott elections to the state's lone Lok Sabha seat and have called a 72-hour state-wide bandh from April 7 in protest against the EC's decision to make Bru refugees vote in Tripura instead of Mizoram .