The Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP), Mizoram’s apex student organisation, has expressed its full support for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls being undertaken by the Election Commission of India. However, the organisation has raised concerns about the inclusion of foreign nationals in voter lists. The student body urged authorities to ensure that the SIR exercise in Mizoram is conducted in a manner that guarantees only genuine residents and citizens of the state are included in the electoral rolls. We ask authorities to carry out meticulous verification, C Lalremruata, MZP President, stated, adding that our position is clear: the electoral roll must remain accurate and transparent.
The organisation has a long history of raising concerns about the inclusion of alleged foreign nationals in the electoral rolls. In the past, MZP has assisted election officials in verifying voter lists, resulting in the removal of thousands of names of alleged foreign nationals. During the intensive revision of electoral rolls in December 1995, MZP members helped election officials in verifying voter lists across various parts of Mizoram, leading to the removal of thousands of names of alleged foreign nationals, including more than 4,000 voters in the Tlabung constituency alone.
In January 1996, 2,886 Chakma voters were struck off the rolls in Aizawl district. The student body has examined electoral data from certain constituencies and claimed to have found unusually high voter growth in Chakma-dominated areas. MZP has also identified cases of individuals allegedly holding citizenship ties to both India and Bangladesh, and entries without house numbers.
The organisation has urged election authorities to remove all names found to have been included in the electoral rolls in violation of the law. The MZP has submitted a formal complaint to the Chief Electoral Officer regarding these findings. The issue of electoral roll revision in Mizoram has been contentious for decades, with concerns about foreign nationals dominating the discourse.
In the past, the Mizo Zirlai Pawl has served ‘quit notices’ to Chakmas who had entered the state after 1950, resulting in the deletion of thousands of Chakma names from electoral rolls. In 1997, the Central government set up a Rajya Sabha Committee on Petitions, which recommended the extension of the autonomous district council. The organisation has appealed to District Election Officers (DEOs), Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs), and Booth Level Officers (BLOs) to carry out their responsibilities honestly and accurately and to take action to prevent the inclusion of non-citizens in voter lists.
MZP has also urged authorities to closely scrutinise 195 villages identified in its complaint during the ongoing SIR process and to conduct further verification in coordination with district election officials. The organisation’s concerns come amid a long history of controversy surrounding electoral roll revision in Mizoram. In 2018, the Election Commission of India replaced Chief Electoral Officer SB Shashank following protests in the state demanding his removal.
The conflict between Shashank and the state government and civil society organisations arose after he complained against Mizoram’s principal secretary (home), Lalninmawia Chuaungo, for allegedly interfering with the election process in the state.
