The Tripura Election department has appealed to Bru refugees residing in relief camps to go to resettlement villages and enroll their names during the special revision of the voters’ list.

The special revision of electoral rolls underway will culminate on December 8 to pave the way for the publication of final electoral rolls for all the 60 Assembly segments. The Assembly election in Tripura is due early next year.

Chief Minister – Dr. Manik Saha and Deputy Chief Minister – Jishnu Dev Varma convened a special review meeting on the progress of Bru resettlement on Wednesday, where the CM urged the Bru leaders to go to the designated resettlement village.

“The chief minister has categorically appealed to Bru leaders to ensure all the remaining Bru refugees who are still staying in relief camps settle in 12 designated locations identified by the state”, remarked an official.

Saha noted that the administration is ready to render requisite assistance to Bru refugees once they relocate to the new places under the historic agreement signed in January 2020.

The Election department targets to enroll as many as 20,000 Bru voters of around 6,300 families.

According to the Additional Chief Electoral Officer – Subhasish Bandhopadyay, “Altogether 7,165 Bru names have already been enrolled in Tripura while the remaining is likely to get registered in the state’s electoral rolls during the special summary revision.”

“We urged the Bru leaders to go to the designated resettlement villages and enroll their names during the ongoing revision of electoral rolls. If they fail to do this, they will be deprived of voting rights in the 2023 Assembly elections,” he said.

Meanwhile, the state government has rejected the proposal to set up resettlement villages for Bru refugees sheltered in the Kanchanpur sub-division. However, they will be rehabilitated in new locations – Gomati and South Tripura district.