157 polling parties leave for booths in Mizoram Lok Sabha poll

At least 157 polling parties have left for their respective polling stations to conduct election to the lone Mizoram Lok Sabha seat on Wednesday despite the 72-hour state-wide bandh called by civil societies this morning.

State election department officials said that 16 polling parties in South Mizoram's Lunglei district left Lunglei town on Sunday as their respective places of duty were inaccessible by vehicles and the officials had to trek.

The officials said that 51 polling parties in the southern-most district of Saiha left for duty on Monday while 90 teams from neighbouring Lawngtlai district also left for duty during the day.

Mara Thuytlia Py (MTP) of Saiha district and Central committee of the Young Lai Association (YLA) of Lawngtlai district, the largest NGOs in the two districts, did not impose the bandh in their respective districts.

In the rest of the six districts, the bandh called by the NGO Coordination Committee was strictly enforced and not a single polling party left for their place of duty.

The bandh was called in protest against the Election Commission's decision to allow 11,000 Bru voters to vote in the six Tripura relief camps through postal ballots.