Mizoram elections 2018: 21 years later, Bru refugees vote for "change" | mizoram elections

The Bru refugees in Tripura, who fled the violence in their native Mizoram 21 years ago, set foot in their homeland for the first time in two decades to participate in the public badembly polls. of Mizoram Wednesday.

Bru refugees voted in 15 polls in Kahnmun, Mamit district, Mizoram, near the border. 56.46% of the 11,987 registered voters in Bru voted.

One day before the election, Bru voters seemed dissatisfied with the polling stations in Kanhmun village, along the Mizo-Tripura border. But to everyone's surprise, even Bru's veteran voters and badfeeding moms lined up to badert their right to vote. in their lives. The scent of "khichdi" and non-vegetarian dishes prepared by the delegates of the Young Mizo Association floated in the electoral complex, while the volunteers handed packets of food to the voters leaving the voting booths. "It's quite difficult to travel at this age.The camp would have been the best place to vote for us.But my nephew helped me to go to the polling booth," said Sourbino Reang. , a 64-year-old resident of Naisingpara.

Read | 80% participation in Mizoram, slightly down from 83.41% in 2013

Sandoulani Reang, a 25-year-old mother of a baby, believes that the BJP could change her life in such a way that she and her baby will no longer have to live in a camp. We saw many other mothers carrying their children on their backs to vote.

Some people, like Asmara, 37, resident of Ashapara Reang, from Mamit district where the voting booths were, still dream of unsatisfied requests.

Others, like Murenjoy, 27, do not remember the moment he fled to the camps with his parents. learned the importance of voting. "We have the right to vote and a change is needed irritated," he said.

Vice President of Mizoram Bru's (MBDPF) Displaced Persons Forum, V Laldungliana, said there were some disadvantages , such as inexperienced drivers, breakdowns along the route and lack of clean water.

But of the 541 vehicles equipped to transport Bru voters from the camps to the polls, 433 were used, indicating a strong desire to vote at any cost for a change.

For more information on the elections at Mizoram, read here

First published: Nov. 28, 2018 23: 30 IST