The state had been in shutdown mode since Monday, when the 72-hour bandh was enforced by local groups
The 72-hour bandh called by some local organisations in Mizoram was called off on Tuesday, hours after the Election Commission announced its decision to defer the polling day in the state due to the shutdown that started on Monday.
Mizoram will go to polls to choose a representative for its lone Lok Sabha seat on Friday instead of Wednesday, the scheduled day of polling, the commission has said.
The bandh had earlier threatened to derail the election process in the state. (
This election, a state may not vote on polling day)
These organisations were angry over the Election Commission's decision to allow Bru refugees -- who escaped to the neighbouring state of Tripura nearly 17 years ago in the wake of ethnic clashes with the majority Mizo tribe -- to cast their votes through postal ballots from relief camps in North Tripura.
The agitating groups have been told that the process will not be changed this time but in the future, all efforts will be made to get Bru refugees to return to Mizoram and cast their votes, the Mizoram Chief Electoral Officer told NDTV.
(Elections 2014: Full Coverage)
On Monday, no poll official had turned up at the designated meeting point in capital Aizawl, from where they were scheduled to board vehicles to their respective polling stations located in various districts across the state.
(Some facts about the 2014 Lok Sabha election)Most regions in the state are far-flung and located in hilly terrains.
Election officials had reportedly assembled at the district commissioner's office in Mamit town in western Mizoram but they were not allowed by those enforcing the bandh to leave for their respective polling stations.