Several political parties in Mizoram have accused former Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) S B Shashank of being anti-Mizo and “puncturing” the state’s enviable record of holding peaceful polls for decades. This the first time political parties have openly criticised the ex-CEO, who was at the centre of a row over allegedly trying to facilitate Bru voters in Tripura relief camps to vote in the November 28 Mizoram Assembly elections from that state.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) Saturday announced its decision to replace Shashank following massive protests by civil society groups here, demanding his ouster over his alleged ‘pro-Bru’ stance. The All NGO (Coordination Committee), an umbrella body of major civil society groups and students’ bodies, has been demanding that the Bru people, who fled Mizoram in 1997 following ethnic clashes and are residing in relief camps in Tripura, be allowed to cast their votes only in Mizoram.

Several major political parties in Mizoram have suggested that the 11,232 Bru voters in Tripura relief camps should return to their villages and cast their votes after enrolling themselves here.