Kashmir Reference for Displaced Manipur Voters: They Will be Allowed to Vote from Camps, says EC

People living in camps in violence-hit Manipur will be allowed to vote from their camps in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the Election Commission announced on Saturday. CEC Rajiv Kumar said it would be similar to the scheme already in place for Jammu and Kashmir migrants.

New Delhi: The Election Commission will allow residents of Manipur living in camps in violence-hit state to vote from their camps in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the poll body said on Saturday as it announced the schedule for the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections.

The facility is on the lines of a similar one provided over the years for the displaced Kashmiri migrants who were forced to leave the valley during the armed militancy in the 1990s.

Responding to a question on Manipur during a press conference on the announcement of dates of the Lok Sabha elections, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said "we will make all arrangements." "We have drawn a scheme, which we have notified... to allow the voters in the camp to vote from the camp. Like there is a scheme for Jammu and Kashmir migrants... same way the scheme will implemented in Manipur. Voters will be allowed to vote from the respective camps... from the lower constituency to higher and higher to lower," Kumar said.

"My appeal to the voters is that let us decide through the ballot, peacefully by participating in the elections, we will make the arrangements," he added.

In a detailed schedule of elections released on Saturday, the ECI said it has reviewed the ground situation of Manipur and has noted that large number of electors registered in different constituencies of Manipur were displaced from their native places during recent conflicts.

The Commission recommended that for such displaced Manipur residents, who are now residing in Relief Camps in various districts of Manipur, special polling stations shall be set up at or near the camps where such electors, who opt for such facility, will be able to register their votes in EVMs.

Ethnic clashes between the Meitei and tribal Kuki communities in Manipur since May last year have resulted in the loss of over 200 lives. According to officials, over 25,000 people have been rescued by the security forces while around 50,000 are living in camps following the unrest.

The commission said that a detailed scheme for internally displaced persons of Manipur to vote in relief camps has been issued by the Commission on February 29, 2024.

The ECI, while recommending special polling stations for the displaced Manipur residents, also made a reference to the Kashmiri migrant electors registered in several parts of the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir, particularly Kashmir region, who were forced to leave their native places during late 1980s and early 1990s in the backdrop of an armed militancy.

The ECI said that after consultation with the Central Government and the State Government, the commission had then come out with a scheme to enable the Kashmiri migrant electors to cast their vote from wherever they are residing in the country, by way of postal ballots since 1996 and voting in person at Special Polling Stations set up at Delhi, Udhampur and Jammu since 2002.

Besides recommending special polling stations for the displaced Manipur residents, the ECI said it has decided to extend the earlier scheme for the Kashmiri migrant electors, who would be voting for the first time after the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution of India and promulgation of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.

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