Litmus test for Lalduhoma

There’s a new party in town and it’s now sitting in power at Aizawl after sweeping the recently concluded assembly elections in Mizoram where it won 27 out of 40 seats it contested. The Zoram People’s Movement(ZPM), the new party, swept to power after the November 7 this year. It is a conglomeration of six small regional parties which became a single entity in 2017. The ZPM during the last election in 2018, had then backed 38 Independent candidates, of whom eight won. The recent maiden victory of the ZPM shattered the 36-year duopoly between the Congress-MNF parties. Historically, elections in Mizoram have largely been dictated by anti-incumbency, with the electorate alternating between the MNF and Congress. The outcome this time is no different, but with the rise of a third front in the form of the ZPM, decades of anti-incumbency against the MNF and Congress worked in its favour. This was its first election in which ZPM contested as a recognised party. The ZPM’s sweep included all 10 Aizawl seats and all four seats in Lunglei – Mizoram’s second largest town. Among those who fell by the wayside included three-time chief minister and MNF veteran Zoramthanga, a former underground lieutenant of late Laldenga, who lost the Aizawl East-I constituency. The other MNF heavyweights who also lost constituencies under Aizawl included deputy chief minister Tawnluia, two ministers and a Rajya Sabha MP. From 26 seats in 2018, the MNF has been reduced to ten seats this time. The ZPM’s theme for its election campaign was a promise to have ‘zero-tolerance on corruption’. The ZPM had attacked the MNF on corruption and nepotism and promised a corruption-free government. Had the ZPM not organised itself as an entity and also had it not announced its candidates early as it did in April this year; it is likely that MNF would have either retained power or shared almost equal number of seats with the ZPM. The ZPM victory is also a testimony to the grit and determination of its chief and former IPS officer and former Lok Sabha MP of the Congress Lalduhoma. He played a pivotal role in coalescing the small parties as one entity and was able to impact people with his message. According to Lalduhoma, his party will not join the NDA and repeat the same mistake that the MNF did by being part of the BJP-led alliance. His government will however maintain cordial relations with the NDA and probably provide issue-based support. One can say that regionalism in Mizoram almost follows the pattern in Nagaland and except for Congress and BJP, no other parties from other states have set their foot in the state, unlike in Nagaland. This time the BJP, which contested 23 seats won two while the Congress which contested 40 won only one seat. In 2018 Congress won five seats. Both ZPM and MNF have backed support for Myanmar refugees especially the Chin tribes who have fled to the state. For the ZPM and its leader Lalduhoma, the coming Lok Sabha election in 2024 will be a litmus test and if the party can win the lone LS Seat then it will become a viable political party in place of Congress.