Aizwal, November 10: The Election Commission on November 10 has begun the process of finding an alternative to Mizoram chief electoral officer S B Shashank. There has been a massive protest in the state by a conglomerate of civil society and student organisations for removing Shashank. A meeting was held today in which the poll panel decided to call for a panel of names for the post of State CEO from chief secretary of Mizoram. A spokesperson of the commission said that the "next steps" would only be taken after receiving the report of the team led by Deputy Election Commissioner Sudip Jain. Mizoram Assembly Elections 2018: Election Commission to Hold Talks With Government Officials, Leaders

The controversy started when the state chief electoral officer had reportedly sought deployment of additional central armed police forces (CAPF) in the state and also complained to the EC that the state's former principal secretary Lalnunmawia Chuaungo was interfering with the poll process. On the complained of Shashank, Chuaungo was relieved of his duties earlier this month.

Since then the protests erupted in the state demanding Shashank’s exit. The NGO Coordination Committee also demanded that 11,232 Bru voters who fled to Tripura in 1997 following ethnic clashes be allowed to exercise their franchise at their respective polling stations in Mizoram as committed by the poll panel in 2014. Congress List of Candidates For Mizoram Assembly Elections 2018: List With Names of 40 Candidates Released, Check Here

Mizoram's incumbent Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla will contest from Champhai South seat, and Assembly Speaker Hiphei will fight from Palak seat. Mizoram is the only state in the entire North-East where the Congress is in power presently. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been reiterating that they would make all efforts to remove the Congress from power. The state is going for election s on November 28 along with Madhya Pradesh. The result will be declared on December 11.

(With inputs from PTI)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 10, 2018 07:10 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).