Mizoram Congress delegation meets CEC on poll schedule

Aizawl: A Congress delegation from Mizoram today met Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) VS Sampath in New Delhi on the demands of churches, civil societies and political parties in the state for a change in the dates of polling and counting of votes in the upcoming Assembly polls. Lok Sabha MP CL Ruala, who led the three-member delegation, told PTI over phone that they met the CEC and top officials of the Commission for about half-an-hour today.[caption id=“attachment_1185123” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Chief Election Commissioner VS Sampath. Image courtesy PIB [/caption] “We told the CEC that we wanted change of poll date from 4 December to 25 November and the date of counting from 8 December to 6 December,” he said, expressing optimism that the ECI would take a favourable decision on the issue. The Mizoram Pradesh Congress Committee delegation, besides Ruala, comprised of MLA and former state minister Nirupam Chakma and state PCC general secretary C Lalruata. Churches, NGOs and political parties wanted the change in the polling date as it falls on the day when the Presbyterian Church is having its highest decision-making conference, the Synod, between 3 and 8 December. The United Pentecostal Church Mizoram (UPC-Mizoram) is also scheduled to have its annual general conference during the same period which would result in thousands of people including priests unable to exercise their franchise. The proposed counting day, December 8, falls on a Sunday, the sacred day for majority of Christians, who had appealed that the day be changed to any day except Sunday and Saturday, the holy day for some denominations like the Seventh Day Adventist Church. PTI