Mizoram Assembly Election 2018: Its Congress versus the rest this time!
TNT Desk | October 07, 2018
As Mizoram braces itself for the upcoming elections in November 28, BJP which rules 6 out of 8 state (either on its own or even in alliance) in North East India will try its best to breach the Congress frontier.
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Even though BJP has never won a seat in Mizoram it has contested 5 times. While will definitely fight for its survival in its last stronghold in the Northeast, BJP is leaving no stone unturned for a 'Çongress-mukt" Mizoram.
Even though Mizoram's grand old party- The Congress party may perceive this Assembly Election to be a cakewalk, it should not undermine the two alliances of smaller regional parties as well as the long time rival Mizo National Front (MNF)
The MNF, which ruled for 10 years since 1998 but won only five seats in the 40-member House against the Congress's 34 in the 2013 Assembly elections, has been upbeat after two Congress MLAs quit and joined it. One of them is Lalzirliana, former Home Minister who was considered the second-most powerful leader in the Congress after Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla.
The MNF is a member of the BJP-helmed North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), as is the National People's Party that plans to make a foray into Mizoram after heading the government in Meghalaya and becoming a minor ally of the BJP in Manipur and Nagaland.
The BJP, though, has said the NEDA should not be confused with a political alliance. "We are here to contest all the 40 seats in Mizoram and hope to form a BJP-led government. But we would not mind allying with like-minded parties after the polls to form a government," Ram Madhav, BJP general secretary in charge of the north-east, said a few days ago.
Although BJP has not sounded over-confident yet by declaring its chances of winning the next elections, it is definitely going to be the fight of Congress against the rest and BJP is definitely siding with the rest or who knows, the rest may eventually just side with the BJP. The clock has already begun to tick and only time will tell what the future holds.
