MNF-MPC alliance worries Congress

Battle for states: Ruling party was expecting walkover in Mizoram

Old allies Mizo National Front (MNF) and Mizoram People’s Conference (MPC) have teamed up again to unseat Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla in the Mizoram Assembly elections next week.

The Congress-led government, which won a thumping majority in 2008, is banking on the New Land Use Policy unveiled two years ago to wean farmers away from the age-old jhum cultivation, which is considered harmful to the environment. With elections in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi remaining under media spotlight and a fractured opposition, the Congress was expecting a walkover in Mizoram, where elections to the 40-member Assembly are scheduled for November 25.

“The coming together of opposition parties is definitely a worrying sign for us,” a Congress general secretary said.

The 71-year-old chief minister is testing electoral waters from two seats, Serchhip and Hrangturzo, which is seen as an indication of unease by a section of political observers.

Besides the MNF and MPC, the Mizo Democratic Alliance also comprises the Maraland Democratic Front, which is contesting in one seat. The MNF is contesting 31 seats and the MPC eight.

The Congress had won 32 seats in the 2008 elections, Zoramthanga’s MNF won three, Mizoram People’s Conference and Zoram Nationalist Party won two seats each.

Zoramthanga, former Mizoram chief minister, is contesting from the East Tuipui seat in Champhai district along the Mizoram-Myanmar border.

The MNF and MPC had contested the 1998 elections together and swept to power ousting the 10-year Congress rule. However, the alliance did not last long and the two parties fell apart the next year. The MNF had won 22 seats on its own and Zoramthanga continued to be in power.

The incumbent chief minister has been in active politics for over four decades and first swept to power in 1984. 

Lal Thanhawla gave up the chief minister’s post two years later at the instance of the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi who had signed the historic Mizo Peace Accord with guerrilla leader Laldenga.