The Aryavarth Express
Agency (Mizoram): The Mizoram Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) announced on Monday that it will approach the Gauhati High Court to challenge the Election Commission for not facilitating voting for approximately 1,047 police personnel who were deployed for poll duty in other states. These personnel were unable to cast their votes in the Lok Sabha elections held on April 19 in Mizoram.
The MPCC stated that on May 13, it had written to the state’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), requesting measures to ensure that these policemen could exercise their franchise. However, the CEO’s response indicated that the Election Commission is unlikely to arrange voting facilities for these policemen, who missed voting due to their deployment for elections in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh.
The Congress party plans to file a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) at the Aizawl bench of the Gauhati High Court to ensure that the police personnel can cast their votes before the counting of votes. Officials mentioned that although these personnel were supposed to vote at facilitation centers, no such arrangements could be made as they had to leave the state before the candidates were finalized, following directives from higher authorities.
The state election department claimed that it had requested the Election Commission at least twice to allow the police personnel to cast their votes for Mizoram’s lone Lok Sabha seat, but these requests were rejected by the central poll panel.
In addition to the Congress, the People’s Conference (PC) party also wrote to the Election Commission principal secretary S B Joshi on Saturday, urging the poll panel to allow the 1,047 Mizoram policemen to cast their votes. The party criticized the authorities for failing to arrange the Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System (ETPBS) for the police personnel, emphasizing that 1,047 votes could significantly impact the election results in a small state like Mizoram.