Mizoram has decisively voted in favour of a new political alliance, the Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM), in the recent elections. It is a six-party alliance headed by IPS officer-turned-politician Lalduhoma, and has won 27 out of the 40 seats in the state Assembly. The Mizo National Front, which was voted out, and the Congress had ruled Mizoram over the decades. The MNF lost in the face of the strong anti-incumbency sentiment, with both Chief Minister Zoramthanga and Deputy CM Tawnluia losing their seats. The MNF won 10 seats, the BJP two, and the Congress one. The MNF’s decision to join the BJP-led NDA did not go down well with the people and was one reason for its defeat. The ZPM, a conglomeration of numerous groups, came into being only in 2017. Lalduhoma has announced that the outfit will not align with either national party. But the BJP state president has announced that his party “will participate in the new government which will be formed soon.”
Mizoram has faced a slew of problems. Some of them are old and others have come to the fore now. The small states in the North-East, with small populations and not many resources, are most dependent on the Centre. Even with central aid, Mizoram is in the throes of a financial crisis. There is an influx of refugees from Myanmar, where a civil war has been going on for the past two-and-a-half years. The volatile situation in the neighbouring BJP-ruled state of Manipur, where ethnic clashes erupted in May, has kept Mizoram on tenterhooks. The MNF government was found wanting in responding to these challenges. The new government has a major challenge in dealing with them. The ZPM promised a corruption-free regime and an agenda of governance with the interests of the youth at the core. This appealed to the voters. MNF was strongly entrenched in ethnic nationalism, with links to the Kuki-Zo tribals in Mizoram and the Chin people in Myanmar. The ZPM could make the people look beyond them.
The ZPM projected itself as a force for change and some civil society groups endorsed it. Some popular members of the civil society contested as its candidates. People accept new forces if they present a new agenda and new hope. The contrast between Zoramthanga and Lalduhoma is also interesting. While Zoramthanga was a battle-scarred leader of the insurgency who joined politics after the Mizoram Peace Accord in 1986, Lalduhoma, as an IPS officer, had a key role in the negotiations and the signing of the accord. He has to work hard to fulfil the promises that he has made.