Unlike in other parts of India, election in Mizoram is a low-key affair. No big banners or buntings are visible and people go about their daily routine without having to stop and read the posters of the candidates who will face the electorate on November 28.
Election in this tiny and remote part of India, wedged between Bangladesh and Myanmar, which has a long history of insurgency, is actually very disciplined thanks to the Church, which frowns upon any extravaganza.
But the undercurrents cannot be ignored. “It will be a clash of the titans” said Lalmal Ralte, a petty businessman in picturesque Aizawl, the capital city, set atop a hill.
Indeed, the coming polls are actually a “battle royale” between BJP mascot and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi.
While the Congress under incumbent Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla is making a desperate bid to hold on to its last post in the Northeast, the BJP appears bent on not only opening its account in the Christian dominated state but also alter the election arithmetic in the contest to the 40-member state assembly.
The BJP’s decision to take the election in Mizoram seriously this time, putting up candidates in 39 of the 40 seats, has evoked sharp responses from sections within the political spectrum with its rivals almost openly projecting this as a possible affront on Christianity. However, it is another matter that the majority of the BJP’s 39 candidates are themselves Christians.
“Although we have put up candidates in all the seats barring one, we are not hopeful of winning more than 5 to 10 seats, “ said Gary Haokip, BJP state secretary. This is good enough for a party which is yet to open its account in Mizoram. The party is hoping to be a coalition partner to any of the regional parties that might win the maximum number of seats.
The ruling Congress is highly apprehensive that the cash-rich saffron party might indulge in a massive horse trading once the results are out. “When the BJP has themselves admitted that they will not win more than five seats—and I presume they will get just 3 seats from the Bru-majority areas—how can they even think of forming the government without buying off MLAs,” asked Lalliaanchhunga, a Congress spokesman.
He said the candidates of the Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) will fall prey to the BJP as they are contesting the polls as Independents. The ZPM, an electoral alliance formed by six parties (earlier seven before the withdrawal of the NCP), has fielded 35 candidates. The BJP is depending largely on the ZPM as they are contesting as Independents and hence can evade the anti-defection law, said Lalliaanchhunga.
The BJP appears to be the main target of poll campaigns mounted by the Congress as well as the Mizo National Front (MNF)—the two parties that have always ruled Mizoram one after another. In the Christian dominated state with a population of 10 lakhs, the BJP is seen as ‘anti-Christ’.
Perhaps, wary of the electorate’s response towards the BJP, regional parties like the Mizo National Front (MNF), which is the primary challenger to the incumbent Congress government, have decided not to go for an alliance with the saffron party. This despite the fact that the MNF which had been in power twice in Mizoram, is a constituent of the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) floated by the BJP.
Former rebel leader Zoramthanga has once again set his eyes on the chief minister post. The MNF leader and two-time chief minister said his party has fielded 40 candidates and would win a clear majority. Asked if his party would go for a post poll alliance, the dapper 84-year-old leader chuckled, “I don’t have to look for a girlfriend as I won’t need one” .
In fact, apart from the BJP and the MNF, another NEDA constituent, the Nationalist People’s Party (NPP) headed by the Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, is also in the fray. In a way, the November 28 polls in Mizoram that has an electorate of 7.5 lakh, is a contest between the Congress and the rest.
Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla, however, is unfazed. “The more the merrier...the presence of so many parties in the fray will split the non-Congress votes and benefit my party,” Thanhawla said. He added, “The Congress is all set for a hat-trick and will win between 30 to 32 seats.” The party has been in power since 2008.
Mizoram is the only state currently ruled by the Congress in the Northeast. The tiny state is being seen by the BJP as its 'final frontier’ in the ‘Congress-free Northeast' campaign.
