Newcomer turns giant killer in Mizoram as ZPM shatters 36 years of MNF-Congress duopoly

The ZPM’s chief ministerial candidate Lalduhoma, a former IPS officer, won from Serchhip constituency and looked all set to lead the new government. The party will stake claim to form the government after holding a meeting of newly elected MLAs and senior party leaders on Tuesday.

Lalduhoma told reporters in the evening that his party would not join the National Democratic Alliance, which the MNF is currently a part of. “We are not going to join any political group at the national level. We don’t want to be dictated from Delhi. We want to take the final decision with our own hands here. But our relationship with the central government will remain on an issue basis,” he said.

During the course of its campaign, the ZPM had accused the MNF of having lost its regional character by being an NDA constituent and had claimed to be the only true regional party in the fray, thereby attempting to undercut the MNF’s claims to be the champions of Mizo nationalism.

The ZPM’s sweep included all 10 Aizawl seats and all four seats in Lunglei – Mizoram’s second largest town. Apart from Zoramthanga, the major upsets for the MNF included defeats for Deputy Chief Minister Tawnluia, ministers Lalruatkima and R Lalthangliana, and the state’s lone Rajya Sabha MP K Vanlalvena.

From 26 wins in 2018, the MNF has been reduced to 10 seats this time. The party had come under fire during campaigning from all parties, including the ZPM, for alleged corruption and its inability to deliver some of its key promises, the most notable being the promise of financial assistance of Rs 3 lakh to all families. The government has so far given Rs 25,000 to 60,000 families and Rs 50,000 to another 60,000 under its Socio-Economic Development Scheme.

Conceding defeat, Zoramthanga attributed the party’s loss to anti-incumbency. He also pointed at the Covid pandemic as a reason for the party’s failure to live up to its promises.

Mizoram Election Results | Follow live updates here

“It is because of the anti-incumbency effect… the people are aggrieved and not satisfied with my performance because of this Covid onslaught. So I lost my government,” he told reporters, adding that he accepts the people’s verdict.

Notably, two of the MNF 10 wins were recorded in West Tuipui and Tuichawng, both of which are strongholds of the ethnic minority Chakma community. In the run-up to the election, the party had heavily leaned on its Mizo nationalist identity. With the ZPM winning 27 seats, the space for a regional Mizo voice has now been taken over by it.

Another significant outcome of the election is the BJP expanding its footprint in the state with two seats – Saiha and Palak – both of which have a sizeable ethnic minority population. In 2018, the party won its first and only seat in the Mizoram Assembly – Tuichawng.

After its image took a beating among the Christian Mizos because of the ethnic violence in neighbouring Manipur – where the Kuki-Zomis, in conflict with the Meiteis, are of the same ethnicity as the Mizos – the BJP was aware that it would find it difficult to make inroads in the community. Because of this, the party focused its resources and energy on minority seats, a strategy that appears to have yielded some dividends.

Historically, elections in Mizoram have largely been dictated by anti-incumbency, with the electorate alternating between the MNF and Congress. The outcome this time is no different, but with the rise of a third front in the form of the ZPM, decades of anti-incumbency against the MNF and Congress worked in its favour.

The ZPM was formed as a coalition of six small regional parties and civil society organisations in 2017, and was not a recognised party during the last election in 2018. It had then backed 38 Independent candidates, of whom eight won.

This was its first election in which it contested as a recognised party.

While the ZPM had primarily banked on the deep-rooted anti-incumbency, its key promise for its “new system of government” has been Minimum Support Prices for four local produces: ginger, turmeric, chilli and broomgrass. After Monday’s victory, Lalduhoma said that one of his government’s first steps will be to buy produce from farmers at the promised MSPs.

The Congress on the other hand has been reduced to its worst position yet in the state. After being in government for two terms, the party could win just five seats in 2018. This time, it managed to win only one seat.