Election Commission team seeks to end standoff in Mizoram

AIZAWL: A high-level Election Commission team on Friday held a series of meetings, including with the Mizoram NGO Coordination Committee (MNCC), which has been spearheading a state-wide protest calling for a removal of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) and reinstatement of the ousted Principal Secretary (Home).

“The EC team headed by Deputy Election Commissioner Sudeep Jain, immediately after their arrival in Aizawl on Friday afternoon, started holding meetings with various groups and Church leaders. The EC officials first held meetings with the leaders of MNCC and also with the state government and election department officials,” an official of the Mizoram Election Department said.

The outcomes of the meetings were not yet known. Also, it was not clear how the ongoing standoff would be resolved.

The official said that the EC team, comprising four officials, was likely to visit one or two district headquarters on Saturday to study the preparedness of the November 28 polls to the 40-member Mizoram Assembly.

The other members of the EC team include Jharkhand CEO Lalbiakthanga Khiangte, EC Secretary S.B. Joshi and Mizoram’s Additional CEO Lalzarmawii. The current visit by the poll panel team led by Jain follows a similar exercise by a three-member team of the Election Commission on Tuesday and Wednesday. (IANS)