Manipur: People Can Vote From Relief Camps in State, But Those in Other States Can’t

According to The Telegraph, Manipur’s chief electoral officer Pradeep Jha last month had said the facility of people being allowed to vote from about 320 camps would be restricted to those living in the state.

The newspaper has reported that most of them who fled to Mizoram mostly belong to the Kuki-Zo community.

Previously, the Internally Displaced People (IDPs) have been allowed to vote from the host states. The Kashmiri IDPs living in Delhi have been allowed to vote from Delhi.

The election officials in the past had set up special polling stations in Tripura for the people who had fled to the state from Mizoram in 1997.

The Telegraph quoted an unnamed official saying some people from strife-torn Manipur had also gone to Delhi and Bangalore. It would be a ‘logistical nightmare’ to set up polling stations for all of them.

The election authorities made it clear that if those who fled from Manipur wanted to come back to the state to vote, they could do so. However, it is unlikely that the people will really come back for this purpose, as the newspaper cited testimonials of people who have left the state.

The polling will happen in Manipur on April 19 and April 26.