The people of Mizoram have opted for a change by breaking the tradition of power revolving between the Congress and the Mizo National Front (MNF) since the formation of the state in 1987. They have now brought the main opposition party, the Zoram People’s Movement, to power for the first time. The party is led by IPS officer-turned-politician Lalduhoma, who won from his Serchhip seat by polling 45.86% of the votes. His party has won 27 seats — an increase of 19 seats since the last elections.
Why Did MNF Lose?
The ruling MNF's efforts to beat the anti-incumbency were not successful. Even Chief Minister and MNF president Zoramthanga lost his own Aizawl East I seat by a margin of more than 9% votes. He lost to ZPM’s Lalthansanga, who has emerged as the giant killer in this election. Not only the CM, but nine of these ministers, including deputy chief minister Tawnluia, too lost the elections. Only two ministers — Lalchhandama Ralte and Robert Romawia Royte — have been able to return to the state assembly.
One of the factors behind MNF’s defeat was the poor implementation of the Socio-Economic Development Policy, the flagship programme of the Zoramthanga government. During the last elections, the party promised to implement this policy, which was to provide financial assistance up to Rs 3 lakh to the household families. It was this promise that helped the party win the elections last time after 10 years. However, according to the deputy chief minister, the state government provided 60,000 households with an assistance of Rs 50,000 each and another 60,000 families were assisted with Rs 25,000 each in the second phase. Here too, there have been allegations of corruption with the Opposition saying many of the beneficiaries belonged to the ruling party.
The other factors have been unemployment and the poor condition of the state’s infrastructure. The MNF's performance was poor in the urban belt. Its 2018 urban seat tally of 14 has come down to one — Mamit constituency in the North region.
MNF Defeated But Lost Overall Only 2% Vote Share
The MNF has won 10 seats — a loss of 16 seats than the last time. But when it comes to vote share, the party hasn’t seen a huge drop. It secured 35.10% — a loss of only 2.6% votes. It seems the MNF’s strategy to bank on Mizo nationalism by reviving the old demand of Greater Mizoram to trigger the dominant Mizo sentiments has at least ensured that the party retains its hold among its core voters. Apart from that, the party’s organisational strength in the rural areas also seemed to have helped. Although the MNF didn’t perform up to expectations, it is still the largest party in the rural belt as it won 9 out of the 19 seats. In fact, it was able to win five new seats in this belt. Apart from this, the party's decision to ally with the Hmar People’s Convention (Reformation) seems to have paid off as the party has been able to retain 2 seats — Serlui and Tuivawl — out of the three seats dominated by the ethnic Hmar minority.
MUSH READ | Four Factors That Helped Newly Formed ZPM Trounce Ruling MNF
A Yearn For Change Of Decades-Old Political Tradition
The people of the state have been fed up with the decades-old tradition of power oscillating between the Congress and the MNF. That’s the reason the Congress failed to gain from the MNF’s anti-incumbency, despite the two-day visit of Rahul Gandhi to the state. It performed poorly and managed to retain only 1 seat out of the 5 it secured last time. In terms of seats, it is relegated to the fourth position, even below the BJP.
It is this yearn for change of the political culture that forced the people to opt for a new choice, the ZPM, which promised to bring a change to the state and make it corruption-free. During the last elections, the party was a coalition of six parties — and was only one year old then. Later, in 2019, it transformed into one composite unit.
In this election, the party’s focus has been mainly on the socio-economic issues, including improving the farmers’ problems. The party’s decision to nominate 15 youth candidates seems to have paid off. It is due to these factors the party has performed excellently in the urban areas and also improved its hold considerably in the rural belt. In the urban belt, last time it had won 7 seats. However, this time it has almost completely swept the belt by winning 19 out of the 21 seats. In rural areas, the party's seat count has gone up from 1 to 8. The rural belt has been a weak point for the party but it seems focus on farmers’ issues helped the ZPM increase its strength in the rural areas.
MUST READ | Revanth Reddy Took Reins Of A Broken Congress House And Rebuilt It, One 'Ghar Wapsi' At A Time
BJP Made Small Gains As Its Gamble Didn’t Pay Off As Expected
The BJP, which opened its account for the first time in the state in the last elections, has been able to clinch two seats in the Christian-dominated state — and both the winning candidates are Christians. This is a significant development for the saffron party, which has been often accused of being an anti-minority party in the country and an anti-Christian party in the state. The party won both the seats of the ethnic Mara-dominated Saiha district — Saiha and Palak. From Saiha, former MNF leader and minister K Beichhua won as the BJP candidate.
However, the party didn’t perform well in the Buddhist Chakma-dominated areas. It lost the Tuichawng constituency, which it won last time, by a small margin. It lost the West Tuipui constituency too. The party fared badly there — and it seems that the party’s wrong strategy to field a non-Chakma candidate has hurt its prospects badly. The party didn’t perform as expected in the Thorang seat, which has 30% Chakma population. It also did poorly in the three constituencies — Mamit, Hachhek and Dampa — of the Mamit district, which has a sizable presence of Chakmas and Brus.
The author is a political commentator.
[Disclaimer: The opinions, beliefs, and views expressed by the various authors and forum participants on this website are personal and do not reflect the opinions, beliefs, and views of ABP News Network Pvt Ltd.]
The author is a political commentator.
[Disclaimer: The opinions, beliefs, and views expressed by the various authors and forum participants on this website are personal and do not reflect the opinions, beliefs, and views of ABP News Network Pvt Ltd.]
Mizoram Was Tired Of MNF-Congress Revolving Door. ZPM Has 5 Years To Prove Its Worth
3
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05.12.2023
The people of Mizoram have opted for a change by breaking the tradition of power revolving between the Congress and the Mizo National Front (MNF) since the formation of the state in 1987. They have now brought the main opposition party, the Zoram People’s Movement, to power for the first time. The party is led by IPS officer-turned-politician Lalduhoma, who won from his Serchhip seat by polling 45.86% of the votes. His party has won 27 seats — an increase of 19 seats since the last elections.
Why Did MNF Lose?
The ruling MNF's efforts to beat the anti-incumbency were not successful. Even Chief Minister and MNF president Zoramthanga lost his own Aizawl East I seat by a margin of more than 9% votes. He lost to ZPM’s Lalthansanga, who has emerged as the giant killer in this election. Not only the CM, but nine of these ministers, including deputy chief minister Tawnluia, too lost the elections. Only two ministers — Lalchhandama Ralte and Robert Romawia Royte — have been able to return to the state assembly.
One of the factors behind MNF’s defeat was the poor implementation of the Socio-Economic Development Policy, the flagship programme of the Zoramthanga government. During the last elections, the party promised to implement this policy, which was to provide financial assistance up to Rs 3 lakh to the household families. It was this promise that helped the party win the elections last time after 10 years. However, according to the deputy chief minister, the state government provided 60,000 households with an assistance of Rs 50,000 each and another 60,000 families were assisted with Rs 25,000 each in the second phase. Here........
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