JOIN USAfter facing a debacle in three states and Delhi, the Congress on Monday got some good news in Mizoram where it won a two-thirds majority in the Assembly elections, snapping up 33 of 39 seats, bettering its tally, while Opposition Mizo National Front (MNF) secured five and MPC one.
The Congress had won 32 seats in the 2008 Assembly elections in the Christian-dominated state. Counting in one seat, Lawngtlai East, could not be completed because of a problem in an EVM at Tialdawngilung polling station, Joint Chief Electoral Officer H Lalengmawia said.
A repoll will be held on December 11 and counting on December 12, he added.
Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla, all set for a fifth term, won from both Serchhip and Hrangturzo seats.
In Serchhip, Thanhawla, who was elected to the Assembly for a record ninth time since 1978, won by a margin of 734 votes defeating his nearest MNF rival Lalramzauva, who got 4,985 votes in a four-cornered contest. Thanhawla had been chief minister in 1984, 1989, 1993 followed by a break for two terms before he donned the mantle again in 2008.
Finance Minister H Liansailova was defeated in Aizawl North-II by Lalthanliana of MPC, a junior partner of MNF.
Tourism Minister S Hiato lost to MNF’s K Beichhua in Saiha.