GUWAHATI: Strife-torn Manipur’s all 10 Kuki-Zo MLAs, including seven from ruling BJP, have urged the Election Commission to make voting arrangements for the displaced people from the community taking shelter outside the state.In a joint petition to the EC, the MLAs said over 50,000 displaced people from the community, scattered in different parts of the country are legitimate electorates. They said these people fled the Imphal valley after their houses, properties and churches were looted, burnt and destroyed during the ethnic violence which broke out on May 3 last year.“As solution to the conflict remains elusive and with the situation still volatile, none of our displaced people is in a position to return to the Imphal valley and their villages,” the MLAs said.They insisted that this tragedy should not be allowed to turn into a classic case of denial of universal adult franchise.Earlier, the EC stated that “special polling stations” would be set up in the relief camps in Manipur so that the inmates could cast their votes.Taking note of this, the Kuki-Zo MLAs said if similar or suitable arrangements are not made for the displaced Kuki-Zo tribals taking refuge outside the state, they would be deprived of their constitutional rights to franchise. The lawmakers were hopeful that as the guardian of democracy, the EC would evolve ways and means to enable the displaced people to exercise their franchise in the true spirit of democracy. They urged the Commission to pass directions to the states and the Union Territories to identify these people immediately.Further, they urged it to notify special polling stations wherever needed and allow such eligible people to cast votes using Aadhar Cards and other valid documents, as many of them lost their voter identity cards.On the day the poll schedule was announced, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar stated, “We have drawn a scheme which we have notified. We notified the scheme to allow voters in the camps to vote from their respective camps.”Later, Manipur’s Chief Electoral Officer Pradeep Kumar Jha told this newspaper the scheme is limited to the state’s territorial jurisdiction.“The scheme is for the internally-displaced persons. We know that roughly about 60,000 people from across communities are staying in the relief camps in 10 districts. The scheme has been designed for them,” he had said.
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