AIZAWL: Former Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga on Friday said his Mizo National Front (MNF) and ruling Congress were just the two main players in Mizoram’s political theatre, virtually keeping an “excited” BJP out of the equation.
He claimed the MNF was the only alternative to the Congress which was crumbling.
“There are only two main players in Mizoram – Congress and MNF. When the Congress is crumbling, there is no alternative to the voters other than the MNF. There’s a saying in Mizoram that the football game is played by the Congress and the MNF and the smaller political parties just collect the ball rolling down the field. Therefore, those on the fence and ball gatherers will never taste victory. Others are onlookers,” Zoramthanga, who is the chief of MNF, told TNIE.
He predicted that the other political parties would get, at best, two-three seats. “Even then, I’m doubtful,” he asserted. The other political parties are some regional entities besides the BJP.
The MNF is an ally of the BJP in North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), which is a non-Congress conglomerate of the political parties. However, both are going it alone in Mizoram elections. There is a perception that the MNF did not align with the BJP as the latter allegedly carries the tag of “Hindu party” in the Christian-majority state.
“Yes, we are partners in NEDA but we are fighting separately. This is primarily because we are a different political party with a different ideology. However, since Mizoram has only one MP, we have to support either the UPA or the NDA in the Parliament,” Zoramthanga said even as he added “the fundamental base in Mizoram is Christianity. The BJP has no chance. Those joined the BJP and hoped to be candidates did so thinking the BJP is a big and rich party and they will make some money”.
The Congress has no doubt that the BJP and the MNF already had a tacit understanding.
“Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravening wolves,” Congress leader Luizinho Faleiro said about the BJP in Aizawl on Friday.
Zoramthanga felt the votes of the ethnic minorities, such as the Brus and the Chakmas, would be shared by the major political parties.
“They (ethnic minorities) don’t have a separate party of their own. They are with MNF, Congress, BJP and so on,” he said. He committed that if the MNF is voted to power, it would take care of the original Chakmas and Brus. However, the party would not welcome those who came from Bangladesh or outside Mizoram.
The MNF chief alleged that the Congress had failed on all fronts saying “There is no development. The condition of all roads is too bad. Then, there is financial management and corruption”.
Asked if the MNF replicated the BJP by importing leaders from the Congress, Zoramthanga said, “We are not importing their leaders. They came on their own volition because of their internal fighting. We welcomed them. The Congress’s ship is sinking everywhere. They won’t be able to form the government in Mizoram,” he said. In the past two months, four Congress MLAs had resigned. Two of them had defected to the MNF.
Zoramthanga said the priority areas of the MNF government would be self-sufficiency in food, eradication of poverty, total prohibition, healthcare, education besides infrastructure.
“If we form the government, as permitted by the Constitution, we will try to put the Christian values, which are not against the Constitution, in place. We cannot make a theocratic government. The social values will be incorporated and implemented,” he said.
Without pointing fingers at any political party, Zoramthanga said the MNF stood opposed to the imposition of one culture or one religious practice in the country. “We have to live in a secular state in a secular democratic manner without imposing any other’s ideology upon any other community,” he said.
Zoramthanga was a top leader of Mizo insurgency movement which culminated in the signing of historic Mizo Peace Accord which led to Mizoram’s attainment of statehood. Asked about his unfulfilled wishes, he said they were more or less fulfilled. “Very few issues remain like the establishment of a separate high court and special development package. We will accomplish them,” he said.