Lalthanhawla, the state chief of the Congress (I) admitted that neither he nor his party colleagues were confident of winning an absolute majority in the Mizoram Assembly election. The veteran Mizo leader would be sworn as the chief minister.

The Congress won 32 seats (out of total 40 Assembly constituencies), where the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) could win only in three seats. Of the five seats, the candidates belonging to Mizoram People’s Conference won two (2), Zoram Nationalist Party bagged two (2), while Maraland Democratic Front won the lone seat (1). Congress had only 12 members in the last Assembly, where the MNF had 21 members.


Meanwhile, the veteran Mizo politician Lalthanhawla has emerged as the leader of Congress legislative party, leading him to be the next chief minister of the Northeastern state.

Lalthanhawla, 68, himself established significant outcome wining from two constituencies. The three-time chief minister of the state won the South Tipui and Serchhip Assembly seats. “The verdict is clear against the misrule of MNF government, led by Zoramthanga for the last ten years. We are committed to provide a stable and prosperous government for the people of Mizoram (around 9,00,000 population),” Lalthanhawla commented.


On the other hand, the incumbent and two-consecutive time chief minister Zoramthanga, 66, lost from both the seats he contested. The former armed rebel and second lieutenant to the legendary Mizo leader Laldenga, who later joined politics after peace agreement with New Delhi, Zoramthanga declared loser in both North Champai and South Champai constituencies.


Soon after the results were declared, Zoramthanga tendered his resignation. He arrived at the Raj Bhavan to meet the governor Lt Gen (Retd) MM Lakhera, at Raj Bhavan, on December 8 itself and submitted his resignation letter. The brief comment he made to the press was that he “accepted the mandate and would work as a responsible opposition” in the Legislative Assembly.


Development was the dominating issue in the low-key election campaign in Mizoram. From the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and the UPA chief Sonia Gandhi to All India Congress Committee general secretary Rahul Gandhi everyone explained about the mismanagement of central fund by the Zoramthanga government.


Mizoram recorded total electorate of 611,124, where 308,884 are women. Though female voters outnumbered male, the election did not witnesses any one of the nine contesting ladies win the electoral race on December 2. The last Assembly polls in 2003 also saw seven women candidates, but all of them failed to succeed.


Special arrangement was made by the Election Commission of India (ECI) for the 8000 Bru (Riang) refugee voters, who have been taking shelter in Tripura since 1997. Over 30,000 Bru people left Mizoram following the ethnic clashes with majority Mizos. Debasis Sen, the special observer for Mizoram polls was quoted as saying in media that the ECI took the landmark step by allowing the displaced voters outside the state to vote through postal ballots.


For the people of the mainland India, it might be surprising that the polls in Mizoram was free from unnecessary noises, putting up of banners and posters and use of money by the candidates to lure the voters. It was because of the strict guidelines imposed by Mizoram People’s Forum, an election watchdog initiated by the churches and NGOs to make the polls free and fair. The high literate state (almost 90 per cent) recorded over 80 per cent voting in the recently concluded Assembly polls, which reported no poll-related violence.