The NGO Co-Ordination Committee consisting of the parent NGOs of the state, CYMA, MUP, MHIP, MZP and MSU held a meeting on Monday where they decided to boycott the Lok Sabha polls.
A statewide indefinite bandh has also been called starting from April 8, 2019.
The bandh has been called over the issue of polling locations for the Bru refugees residing at Tripura Transit camps.
The NGO Co-ordination Committee had demanded to have the Brus residing in Tripura Transit Camps cast vote in their respective polling stations without creating special polling stations.
In the Mizoram State Assembly election in 2018, special arrangements had been made for those residing in transit camps to cast their vote in Kanhmun village of the Mizoram-Tripura border.
Fifteen polling stations were set up in Kanhmun village where around 52% of the total 11, 987 Bru voters had cast their votes.
Vehicular arrangement had been made for the voters by the Tripura government.
The NGOs have also made an appeal to the commercial vehicles and private vehicles not to cooperate with the government in using their vehicles for election-related purposes.
In response to the planned agitation, the CEO, Ashish Kundra, responded saying the NGOs’ decision is “unfortunate”.
The CEo said boycotting elections would be against the democratic stance of the country and will not solve anybody’s purpose.
The CEO said he will appraise the matter to the ECI and take further action as necessary.
The Mizoram National People’s Party released a statement saying that they support the decision of the Joint NGO Co-ordination Committee to call for a total bandh starting from April 8, 2019 onwards.
