Regional resurgence

One takeaway from the election results in Mizoram is that the decline in the Congress’ fortunes does not necessarily mean an upswing for the BJP.

RIDING ON A STRONG ANTI-INCUMBENCY wave, the Mizo National Front (MNF) returned to power in Mizoram, ending 10 years of Congress rule in the north-eastern State bordering Myanmar and Bangladesh. The resurgence of the regional party not only decimated the Congress but also shattered the dream of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to get a stronger foothold in north-eastern India.

The MNF won 26 seats in the 40-member Assembly while the Congress won just five. The Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM), an alliance of seven parties, pushed the Congress to the third position by winning eight seats. The BJP managed to open its account and won one seat. In the 2013 Assembly elections, the Congress had won 34 seats, the MNF five and the Mizoram People’s Conference (MPC), one of the constituents of the ZPM, one seat.

Former Chief Minister and MNF chief Zoramthanga led the party to a sweeping victory while the incumbent Chief Minister, Lal Thanhawla, seven-time legislator and five-time Chief Minister, lost both the seats he contested. In Serchhip constituency, he lost to Lalduhoma, the ZPM chief, by a margin of 410 votes and in Champhai South constituency, he lost to MNF candidate T.J. Lalnuntluanga by a margin of 1,049 votes.

The vote share of the parties show that the ZPM cut into Congress votes, which helped the MNF. The MNF polled 37.6 per cent of the votes this time as against 28.65 per cent in the last Assembly elections. The Congress vote share declined to 30.2 per cent from 44.63 per cent in 2013. Even though the overall vote share of the BJP increased significantly to 8 per cent from 0.37 per cent, 22.50 per cent of the votes polled by the party came from