Polls peaceful, more than 75 per cent cast vote

Peaceful elections for the 40-member Assembly in Mizoram witnessed massive turnout of voters in both rural as well as urban centres...

Peaceful elections for the 40-member Assembly in Mizoram witnessed massive turnout of voters in both rural as well as urban centres, with officials in the state election office putting the turnout at about 75 per cent. But going by reports that large number of people were still queued up outside polling stations even after 5 pm, the overall turnout is expected to cross the 80-per cent mark.

8220;Polling was peaceful. Though the voting was quite slow till noon, it picked up in the second half of the day,8221; Lalhmingthanga, state8217;s joint chief electoral officer, said in Aizawl.

While the ruling Mizo National Front MNF, which has been in power since 1998, has put in its best efforts to win the polls for the third time in a row, the Congress is going all out to unseat the MNF, with stalwarts like Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also joining the campaign.

The MNF, a regional party did not have any outside campaigner. The MNF is not part of any national or regional political alliance. Tuesday8217;s vote would decide the fate of Chief Minister Zoramthanga, state Congress chief and former chief minister Lalthanhawla and also Brigadier T Sailo, yet another former chief minister who has been projected as a chief ministerial candidate by the United Democratic Alliance UDA. Altogether 611,124 people, including 308,884 women, are eligible for casting votes.

Interestingly, women voters outnumber male voters in 26 Assembly constituencies.

Meanwhile, former Mizoram chief minister and state PCC chief Lal Thanhawla said he would return to power in the state after being in the Opposition for a decade. Talking to media here after casting his vote, Thanhawla said that his main agenda, if voted to power, would be to uplift the poor in the state. 8220;I am not fighting the ruling Mizo National Front MNF, but the misrule and rampant corruption in the state,8221; Thanhawla, who himself has a graft case pending against him, said.