GUWAHATI: There is a perception that the Mizoram elections could throw up a fractured mandate this time around. However, the state’s Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla was confident that his Congress would retain power by getting “full majority”.
“We are winning in at least 27 (of the 40) seats. We are going to break the jinx,” he asserted. The jinx is that no party in Mizoram was ever voted to power for the third time on the trot.
Thanhawla said the Congress would get the votes of the Chakmas apart from the Mizos. He, however, was not sure about the votes of the Brus.
“We suspect that the BJP had lavishly distributed money to the Bru voters,” he said.
Opposition Mizo National Front (MNF) president and two-time former Chief Minister, Zoramthanga, was also confident that his party would form the government. “We will form the government, primarily because of our performance (as an opposition party) and the Congress government’s failures. They (Congress) are selling liquor by going against the wishes of the Church, civil society organisations and the people. Then, there is mismanagement of the financial system and lack of development,” Zoramthanga said.
He said the MNF would win seats across the state. He predicted that the polls would not throw up a hung House as being speculated.
The Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM), which is a conglomerate of some smaller regional parties, is equally upbeat. Asked if there is a possibility of the ZPM aligning with the MNF post-election, ZPM chief Lalduhawma said, “We are forming the government and as such, there is no question of aligning with any party”.
Meanwhile, a large number of the nearly 12,000 displaced Bru voters, who are lodged in six relief camps in Tripura, were transported to Mizoram by the BJP government in Tripura on Wednesday so that they could participate in voting. They cast their votes in 15 polling stations at a playground at Kahnmun bordering Tripura. The nearest relief camp from the place is located two kilometers away; the farthest being at a distance of 57 km.
The Election Commission and the Young Mizo Association, which is a youth’s organisation in Mizoram, had made arrangements for the refreshment of the Bru voters.
Some voters said on camera they don’t mind whichever party wins but all that they want is good roads in the state.