Mizoram has decisively voted for change.
In the change-versus-continuity electoral battle, the Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) on Monday won a comprehensive mandate to unseat the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) in what most said was a “wave for change verdict more than anything else”.
It also ended the trend of either the MNF or the Congress ruling the state in
turn since its formation in 1987.
The ZPM won 27 of the 40 Assembly seats in the Christian-majority state. The MNF bagged 10 seats, the BJP two and the Congress one. The majority mark is 21.
The ZPM had burst onto the state’s political scene in the 2018 Assembly polls when it was not yet a registered party and won eight seats to finish second.
The ZPM’s emergence helped the MNF wrest power from the Congress, which was pushed to third spot.
Three-time chief minister and MNF president Zoramthanga lost to ZPM vice-president Lalthansanga by 2,101 votes from the Aizawl East-1 seat. He attributed the loss to “anti-incumbency and the Covid onslaught”.
The other major upsets included Mizoram PCC chief Lalsawta, who will resign on Tuesday owing moral responsibility for the debacle, and BJP state chief Vanlalhmuaka.
The man of the moment was the ZPM’s chief ministerial candidate Lalduhoma, a former IPS officer, who won from Serchhip by beating J. Malsawmzuala Vanchhawng of the MNF by 2,982 votes.
