Aizawl: The Election Commission of India (ECI) is yet to respond to pleas made by political parties, churches, civil society organisations and student bodies on the issue of deferment of date for counting of votes, a senior official of Mizoram election department said on Sunday.
State Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Madhup Vyas said that his office has not received any response from the Central poll panel regarding a shift in the vote counting date till now.
Additional CEO H Lianzela also said that the Election Commission, which is likely to seek comment from the state election department on the issue of change in counting date, is yet to do so.
He said that some organisations or political parties have sent letters directly to the ECI, while others sent through the CEO.
Also Read: Mizoram: Myanmar national held with Meth tablets worth Rs 45 crore
“We will write forwarding letters to the Election Commission this week for those organisations, which submitted their appeal through the CEO,” he said.
Although it is not known whether or not the ECI will accede to the request to change the counting date, it seems the poll panel is not in a hurry, the official said.
Also Read: Assam: Man missing for three days, found dead in Biswanath
He also said that preparation for the upcoming assembly polls is going on in full swing.
On October 9, the ECI announced the schedule for assembly elections of five states, including Mizoram.
Polling for the 40-member Mizoram assembly will be held on November 7 and counting of votes for all the five states will take place on December 3, which is Sunday.
Seven political parties, including the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) and BJP and civil society organisations and student bodies, including Central Young Mizo Association (CYMA), have jointly written to the ECI on October 12 urging the Central poll panel to reschedule the counting date on another appropriate day other than Sunday and Saturday.
The letter said that almost 90 per cent of the state population is Christian and Sunday is a sacred day for the people.
“We the Mizos devoted solely to the worship of God on Sunday. No official programme or business is trusted on Sunday in Mizoram,” the letter signed by presidents of all political parties and NGOs had said.
Earlier before this, the majority of political parties, including MNF and BJP and Mizoram Kohhran Hruaitute Committee (MKHC), a conglomerate of major churches in the state had also appealed to the ECI to change the counting date citing Sunday as a sacred day for the Christian community of the state.
Christians account for around 87 per cent of the population of Mizoram according to the 2011 census.