Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) leader and Serchhip constituency MLA Lalduhoma on Monday took a dig at the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) and Congress stating both are backsliding after the Assembly elections in November last year.

The ZPM, which had forged an alliance with the Congress in the Lok Sabha elections and Assembly bypoll, snapped ties with the party recently.

“In just 134 days between the Assembly election and the Lok Sabha polls, both the MNF and the Congress are going backward. But the ZPM is moving forward,” Lalduhoma said while addressing a party meeting at ZPM office here on Monday.

He said the ruling MNF failed to win in 18 Assembly constituencies, including 11 of its defending constituencies in the Lok Sabha elections.

He alleged that the MNF won the Lok Sabha polls because of Chakma voters.

In the recent Lok Sabha polls, the ZPM-Congress combine candidate Lalnghinglova Hmar secured only 386 votes against MNF nominee C. Lalrosanga’s 12,022 votes while the BJP candidate, Nirupam Chakma, secured 10,537 votes in Chakma-dominated Tuichawng constituency.

According to Lalduhoma, the ZPM-Congress combine would have won by 3,329 votes had not the people of Tuichawng cast their votes.

He recollected that the Opposition joint candidate Robert Romawia Royte had also been defeated by the ruling candidate C.L. Ruala in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls because of a big vote share in Tuichawng.

“It is a matter of retrospection for the ruling MNF that how fast they are losing popularity in only five months after celebrating their victory in the Assembly polls,” the 70-year-old IPS officer-turned-politician said.

He also called upon the Mizo community to be conscious of their future politics.

Urging the government to raze alleged illegal villages in the Chakma area, the ZPM leader said, “Though we don’t hate the entire Chakma community, the establishment of 14 villages council within the Chakma council area in a year is largely due to population explosion.”

Lalduhoma said the ZPM, which is an alliance of six minor parties, would merge into a single party.

“Though we may need time to overcome our differences and become united in one accord because we are a six-party alliance, we would work together as a single party to fulfil the people’s aspiration,” he said.

The leader said they had forged the alliance with the Congress in the Lok Sabha elections and Assembly bypoll to fight against the citizenship bill and BJP’s Hindutava policy.

The ZPM has severed ties with the Congress once elections were over, he added.