The veteran Mizo politician Lalthanhawla will be the next chief minister of Mizoram. The State chief of Indian National Congress (I), Lalthanhawla will be sworn in as the government head of the Northeastern province on Thursday (December 11) at Raj Bhavan in Aizaw by the Governor Lt Gen (Retd) MM Lakhera.
It was really an unexpected victory for Lalthanhawla, who himself admitted that neither he nor his party colleagues were confident of the absolute majority in State Assembly election. Soon after the declaration of poll result on December 8, the former chief minister of Mizoram asserted that the rampant corruption by the government at Aizawl and initiative of the United Progressive Alliance government in New Delhi turned the result in his party's favour.
The Congress won 32 seats (out of total 40 Assembly Constituencies), where the ruling Mizo National Front could won only in three seats. The rest five seats were own by the candidates belonged to Mizoram People's Conference (2), Zoram Nationalist Party (2), and Maraland Democratic Front (1). Congress had only 12 members in the last Assembly, where the MNF had 21 members.
Lalthanhawla, 68, himself established significant outcome wining from two constituencies. The three-time chief minister of the State won the South Tipui and Serchhip Assembly seats. "The verdict is clear against the misrule of MNF government led by Zoramthanga for the last ten years. We are committed to provide a stable and prosperous government for the people of Mizoram (around 9,00,000 population)", Lalthanhawla commented.
On the other hand, the incumbent and two-consecutive time chief minister Zoramthanga, 66, lost from both the seats he contested. The former armed rebel and second lieutenant to the legendary Mizo leader Laldenga, who later joined politics after peace agreement with New Delhi, Zoramthanga declared loser in both North Champai and South Champai constituencies.
Soon after the result came out, Zoramthanga tendered his resignation. He arrived at the Raj Bhavan to meet the Governor on December 8 itself and submitted his resignation letter. The brief comment he made to the press was that he had 'accepted the mandate and would work as a responsible opposition' in the Legislative Assembly.
Development was the dominating issue in the low-key election campaign in Mizoram. From the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and the UPA chief Sonia Gandhi to All India Congress Committee General Secretary Rahul Gandhi everyone explained about the mismanagement of central fund by the Zoramthanga government.
The Union government had sanctioned Rs 125 crore to fight against the famine like situation in Mizoram. Mentionable that, a natural happening (after almost 50 years) took place in some parts of Mizoram, when the bamboo started flowering. It not only damages the bamboos, but also helps increasing the population of rats abundantly, which finally makes an impact on the rice production (and preservation).
Amazingly, it was the last bamboo flowering in Mizoram during late Fifties, when Laldenga formed the Mizo National Famine Front to initiate an armed movement against the governments in Guwahati (then Mizoram was a part of Assam) and New Delhi. The people of Mizoram (then it was known as Luchai hills) were angry with the authorities as it did not provide adequate relief to victims of the 1959 famine.
After two decades of arm struggle, Laldenga went for a peace agreement with New Delhi. The armed group Mizo National Famine Front was converted into a political party and was renamed as Mizo National Front. As the Mizo Peace Accord was signed in 1986, the then Congress chief minister Lalthanhawla (who led Congress to victory in 1984 polls), stepped down and offered space for the guerrilla leader and MNF chief Laldenga to run an interim administration.
The Congress once again established its victory in the 1989 Assembly polls. The party continued its winning spree for the second time, but in 1998 election, the MNF emerged as victorious. Zoramthanga led the party in the polls and continued his victory missile in 2003 Assembly election too. In fact, the last one was the fourth election in Mizoram since it was declared as a full- fledged State in 1986 (Mizoram became a union territory in 1972).
Mizoram recorded total electorate of 611,124, where 308,884 are women. Though female voters outnumbered male, the election did not witnesses any one of the nine contesting ladies won the electoral race on December 2. The last Assembly polls in 2003 also saw seven women candidates, but all of them failed to taste success.
For the people of the mainland India, it might be surprising that the polls in Mizoram was free from unnecessary noises, putting banner & posters and use of money by the candidates to lure the voters. It was because of the strict guidelines imposed by Mizoram People's Forum, an election watchdog initiated by the churches and NGOs to make the polls free and fair. The high literate state (almost 90%) recorded over 80 percent voting in the recently concluded Assembly polls, which reported no poll-related violence.
Special arrangement was made by the Election Commission for the 8000 Bru (Riang) refugee voters, who have been taking shelter in Tripura since 1997. Over 30,000 Bru people left Mizoram following the ethnic clashes with majority Mizos. Debasis Sen, the special observer for Mizoram polls was quoted as saying in media that the Election Commission of India took the landmark step by allowing the displaced voters outside the state to vote through postal ballots.
Mizoram Election Result Tally Total seats 40 Indian National Congress 32 Mizo National Front 3 Mizoram People's Conference 2 Zoram Nationalist Party 2 Maraland Democratic Front 1
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