MIZORAM CHIEF ELECTORAL OFFICER SUMMONED BY ELECTION COMMISSION

Guwahati, November 7, 2018:

Mizoram Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) S B Shashank, whose removal has been demanded by the chief minister and several NGOs, left for New Delhi on Wednesday after being summoned by the Election Commission. Shashank would meet the poll panel on November 8 in the national capital.

Meanwhile, hundreds of members of the Young Mizo Association (YMA) continued their picketing in front of the CEO's office.

The meeting of a visiting Election Commission team, state government officials and leaders of the NGO Coordination Committee on the current standoff in aizawl Tuesday night remained inconclusive as the EC team said that the final call would be made by the commission.

The team members said that they would submit their findings to the commission.

Leaders of the NGO Coordination Committee demanded that Shashank should be transferred from Mizoram and the Bru voters in the Tripura relief camps should exercise their franchise in their respective polling stations in Mizoram.

Thousands of people from the Bru community fled Mizoram in the late 1990s following ethnic clashes. They have been lodged in relief camps in Tripura.

Earlier on Monday, Chief Minister Lal thanhawla had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that "as people have lost faith in him, the only solution for smooth conduct of the Assembly elections 2018 would be removal of CEO S B Shashank from office forthwith."

Election to the 40-member Mizoram Assembly is scheduled for November 28.