Over 12,000 displaced Bru people from Tripura will exercise franchise at 15 polling stations in the border village of Kanhmun in Mamit district of Mizoram, Mizoram chief electoral officer Ashish Kundra said on Thursday.

Kundra told reporters that the Election Commission has issued instructions that polling for Brus must be arranged at Kanhmun village inside Mizoram. He said 15 polling stations would be set up, of which nine have been completed.

Nine polling stations will be set up at Kanhmun YMA ground for Bru voters belonging to Mamit district and three each would be set up at Kanhmun indoor stadium for Brus belonging to Kolasib and Lunglei districts. Six polling officers from Mamit, Kolasib and Lunglei districts have been deployed to monitor polling, he added.

Kundra visited relief camps in Tripura on Tuesday and met Bru community leaders about the Election Commission’s decision. He said the Bru leaders insisted on polling stations inside relief camps, saying they feared for their lives in Mizoram and that old people would face problems because of bad roads.

“I told the refugee leaders that we have to follow the Election Commission’s instruction and set up polling stations in the border village as the civil society groups also want the Bru people to cast their votes inside Mizoram,” he said.

Kundra said he was in contact with the chief electoral officer of Tripura for smooth conduct of polls. He said local leaders of Kanhmun village welcomed the Election Commission’s decision and volunteered to ensure that polling was held peacefully.

Laldingliana, president of the Mizoram Bru Displaced Peoples’ Coordination Committee, told The Telegraph that they would hold a public meeting to take the opinion of the inmates of the camps. He said they were yet to receive official intimation from the Election Commission.

The Bru leader said the people wanted arrangement of polling stations inside the relief camps and demanded tight security if they have to cast votes inside Mizoram.

Liquor policy: Mizoram chief minister and Congress president Lal Thanhawla on Thursday said his party would consult and take the consent of the churches in the liquor policy, if it retains power.

His message was conveyed by Congress spokesperson Lallianchhunga at a news conference here on Thursday.

Lal Thanhawla said the Mizoram Liquor (Prohibition and Control) Act, 2014, was introduced by the Congress government after The Mizoram Liquor Total Prohibition Act, 1995, introduced by the MNF and enforced in the state for 17 years, proved to be a major failure. “We are looking for an alternative to relax liquor policy with a restriction by implementing the MLPC Act because spurious and low-grade liquor was abundantly available during total prohibition period which resulted in the the death of many,” he said.