Tripura orders probe after names of 130 villagers found in Mizoram’s voters list

The Tripura government has ordered a probe after the names of 130 residents of a border village were included in Mizoram’s voters list, revenue minister NC Debbarma said Saturday.

Phuldungsei village falls under Kanchanpur sub division in North District of Tripura, more than 300 km southeast of Agartala. The village has a population of more than 600.

“We have heard of the matter. We have already asked our higher official concerned to conduct a probe into the matter,” Debbarma said.

Kanchanpur sub divisional magistrate Chandni Chandran, recently wrote to North district magistrate Raval H Kumar after scrutiny of Mizoram’s voters’ list found that 130 residents of Phulungsei who hold ration cards of Tripura have been added in the neighbouring state’s voters’ list.

She also stressed on the urgency of demarcating the exact boundary between the two neighbouring states incorporating the entire Phuldungsei Village Council in Tripura.

“The PWD road leading to Kawnpui border village of Jampui hill RD block is regarded as the boundary between Tripura and Mizoram in Phuldungsei where the eastern side belongs to Mizoram and the western side is Tripura. Traditionally Phuldungsei VC as a whole (despite Eastern side falling in Mizoram) has been accepted as a part of Tripura.

Hence, the inclusion of the VC and its residents in Mizoram electoral rolls seems to be problematic,” she wrote in the letter.

“There is an urgent need to demarcate the exact boundary between Mizoram and Tripura incorporating the entire Phuldungsei VC in Tripura,” the letter reads.

The village council elections in Mizoram are scheduled to be held on August 27.

When contacted, Chandni said that the

130 voters are ration cardholders of Tripura but she could not say how many Tripura voters could be taking rations from Mizoram.

District Magistrate of Mizoram’s Mamit District Dr. Lalrozama could not be reached for reaction as he did not take calls.

Former Congress leader Pradyot Bikram Kishore Manikya Deb Burman said that the boundaries of Tripura are not negotiable and demanded that the state government deal with the issue firmly.

“We want investigation on how people can hold two voting cards in two separate states and also demand that our state government take strict measures to ensure that no territory is seen as a part of another neighbouring state, “ Pradyot wrote on Facebook.

He also demanded the government should open a police outpost at Phuldungsei and cancel the election process and the illegal voting cards.

Pradyot floated an apolitical organization under the banner ‘The Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance’ (TIPRA) after resigning from Congress as its Tripura president in 2019.