Nearly two-third voters cast ballots in Mizoram
Poll passes off peacefully for the lone Lok Sabha seat
Aizawl — Nearly two-thirds of the voters cast their ballots on Friday for the lone Lok Sabha seat and in a by-poll for an assembly segment in mountainous Mizoram. The elections passed off peacefully, officials said here.
Mizoram’s joint Chief Electoral Officer H. Lalengmawia said that a 60 per cent turnout has been recorded and the final figure will be known on Saturday.
In the last Lok Sabha elections in 2009, the voter turnout was around 51 per cent in the state.
The Mizoram election marks the fourth phase of the staggered tenphase polls in the country to elect 543 Lok Sabha members.
The state’s Chief Electoral Officer Ashwani Kumar said the polling was peaceful and no untoward incident was reported from anywhere in the state that borders Myanmar and Bangladesh besides Tripura and Assam.
Elections for both the Lok Sabha and the assembly seat were earlier scheduled April 9 but were postponed to Friday due to a three-day shutdown and boycott call by NGOs and student groups in Mizoram to protest tribal refugees’ voting through postal ballots from Tripura relief camps.
“Voting was delayed for sometime in some polling stations after the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) developed technical snags. Engineers either rectified the EVMs or replaced them and the balloting proceeded as usual,” the CEO said. Reports said that young, new and women voters wearing traditional attire queued up much before the polling stations opened at 7am.
Mizoram’s lone Lok Sabha constituency witnessed a triangular battle between sitting member C.L. Ruala of the Congress, Robert Romawia Royte of the United Democratic Front (UDF) and M. Lalmanzuala of the Aam Aadmi Party.
The main opposition UDF is an alliance of eight parties led by the Mizo National Front (MNF), which ruled the state for two terms (1998- 2003 and 2003-08). The UDF is supported by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The MNF had won the Lok Sabha seat, reserved for tribals, in 2004.
The by-election for the Hrangturzo assembly seat is also being held on Friday. The by-election was necessitated after Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla, who won from two constituencies in the assembly polls held November 25, vacated the seat.
Vanlalawmpuii Chawngthu of the Congress is pitted against UDF leader H. Lalduhawma, who unsuccessfully contested the last election from the same seat. —