By Firstdespatch Desk Dec 05, 2023
In a matter of hours, the Mizoram election were over. Just as winter mist swamps the valley and hills of Aizawl, moving silently every morning into homes and offices, a new political party. swept the polls in the small, rugged state on the international border with Myanmar and Bangladesh.
A clear mandate for change driven by young voters propelled the Zoram People's Movement (ZPM), originally formed as a seven-party alliance led by a former police officer, to power. Incumbent Chief Minister Zoramthanga of the Mizo National Front (MNF) crashed to a stunning defeat in the constituency that he had contested from in Aizawl, the state capital. Many of his MNF cabinet colleagues and prominent party leaders were trounced by a bunch of newbies from what was an alliance of the Zoram Nationalist Party (ZNP), Mizoram People’s Conference (MPC), National Congress Party(NCP), Zoram Exodus Movement (ZEM), Zoram Decentralisation Front (ZCF), Zoram Reformation Front (ZRF), and Mizoram People’s Party (MPP). With a voter turnout of a whopping 88 percent, the Bharatiya Janata Party got a bare two seats. In 2018, they got one seat. The Congress, which ruled the state for 25 years, struggled to open its account. And the Congress, which ruled the state for 25 years, struggled to open its account. The MNF, now without the familiar face of Zoramthanga, will need to elect a new leader for its 10-member flock.
The direction of the electoral wind was clear during a two-week visit in October, a few days before polling. Younger people, making up 62 percent of the electorate of this narrow strip of land, were thirsting for change and thronged to the ZPM’s rallies. Although the ZPM was not originally a single party, its undisputed leader was quite a dominant figure: Lalduhoma,a former senior police official who joined the Congress, became a legislator and a Rajya Sabha MP before founding his own forum, the Zoram Nationalist Party. For the first time in nearly four decades—after the crucial Mizoram Accord that ended a 20-year insurgency led by the MNF and brought peace to the state—a new face who is not from Congress or the MNF will be in charge of the state. Of the two war horses, Lal Thanhawla of the Congress, who ruled for 25 years, called it quits in 2018, and Zoramthanga, who ruled for 15 years, has suffered a humiliating defeat.
Although the parties have different platforms and local leaders, they prioritise local issues. These include protecting Mizo identity, solidarity with Chin refugees from Myanmar fleeing a civil war there, and solidarity with displaced Kukis from the Manipur conflict. Indeed, the Kuki-Zo (Mizo)-Chin groups are seen as an umbrella group sheltering many small, diverse communities but speaking similar languages and sharing the same Christian faith, though divided by state and international borders. A deep sense of kinship prevails in this large group, which explains how Chin refugees from Myanmar have been welcomed into Mizoram despite central government opposition. Over 45,000 Chin are living in refugee camps in the state, and their numbers have escalated with the military brutality inflicted on civilian populations across the border. There are common positions with the ZPM, including on border disputes with Assam as well as opposition to the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) and the Citizenship Amendment Act.
There are a series of factors contributing to the surge favouring the ZPM and the debacle that has overwhelmed the MNF and Congress. The first desire for change was driven by younger voters. The second is the fact that the ZPM had announced both its candidates and economic agenda well ahead of the polls, giving its nominees time to familiarise themselves with their constituencies and vice versa. It rejected the cash incentives and financial support through the Congress’s New Land Use Policy (NLUP), which later merged with the MNF’s New Economic Development Policy (NEDP), saying that these had led to extensive corruption. A significant point that counted with farmers was the ZPM’s declaration that it would fix minimum support prices for four key cash crops—ginger, turmeric, chillis, and broomstick plants—and buy in bulk from rural communities. Rural poverty is a major problem in the state, despite its high literacy rate (second after Kerala). Mizoram raises little financial resources and is dependent on the Centre for funding of key programmes and even staff salaries.
A third element is the concern over the displacement of Kukis from Manipur who have taken shelter in the state, especially in Aizawl, a city of high buildings and narrow and clean streets that are constantly bustling with disciplined activity (drivers don’t honk and stoically bear the stress of traffic jams). The buildings stand cheek-by-jowl and tall on sharp inclines; there are limited open spaces and green patches compared to the valley below and the hills around.
Another factor has been the way the Mizo have supported and sustained no less than 45,000 Chin refugees from Myanmar, housed in camps along the border as well as in different parts of the state. Some live in homes and apartments in Aizawl. Although the MNF took a stand against the Centre while declaring its support and protection of the refugees, it did not reap the anticipated political benefits in the elections.
A unique part of Mizoram’s elections is the role of the church and civil society groups in running a tight schedule and code of conduct. This is nothing short of extraordinary, for overseeing the campaigns is the Mizoram Public Forum (MPF), headed by church leaders, with which all political parties sign an agreement with regard to the code of conduct. It organises common platforms for all candidates where they are invited to speak. In addition, only street corner and neighbourhood meetings are allowed. Door-to-door campaigns are restricted, as are loud music and noisy cars. It’s far more effective than the Election Commission, which accepted the persistent MPF demand for a postponement of ballot counting instead of holding it on December 3, a Sunday, because it would conflict with church and religious commitments.
While the ZPM has several prominent figures, including a former top Indian football player, a media owner, and the politician who defeated Zoramthanga, it remains to be seen how cohesively it will function and how Lalduhoma, its chief ministerial candidate, will handle the jousting for position and power. Another question to be answered in the next few months is whether the BJP will be invited to join the government, either at the ZPM’s behest or Delhi's, thereby putting the seal of central support on the former. Would the latter then also join the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to ensure a smooth relationship with the Centre? The MNF was in the NDA but consistently resisted efforts to bring a BJP nominee into the government.
These are emergent issues that will need deft management and will test the new leader’s skills as well as the government’s stability.