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Journalism of Courage
Mizoram has seen only two Chief Ministers – Lal Thanhawla from the Congress and Zoramthanga from the Mizo National Front – since 1993, with power constantly swinging between the two parties since the first Assembly elections in 1987. This time, though, the state has a new CM face in Lalduhoma of the Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM).
Lalduhoma has had a long and diverse public life. He pursued BA from North East Hill University after which he joined the Indian Police Service. While in service, he went on to become the security in-charge for then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. He resigned from the service in 1984 and joined politics with the Indian National Congress, being elected as Lok Sabha MP later that year. He ended up becoming the first MP to be disqualified under the anti-defection law in 1988 after he resigned from the Congress. Before the formation of the ZPM, he had been elected as MLA in 2003 from another party he had founded, the Zoram Nationalist Party.
With eight MLAs in the outgoing Assembly and victories in local elections since 2018 when the party was formed, the ZPM has found its feet in the state. In an interview to The Indian Express, Lalduhoma said he is confident his party can form the next government without outside support – crucial since they don’t want “bosses sitting in Delhi”.
The ZPM has presented itself as an alternative to the current dispensation. What is the “new” factor it is bringing to the table?
The ZPM is a fresh commodity in the political market here in Mizoram. The other two parties have been in power for more than 30 years. They have exhausted all their talents and we have had enough of them. People want change and ZPM is the only alternative. We offer a new system, a corruption-free government and upliftment, particularly of the youth and the farmers.
So the ZPM is largely banking on anti-incumbency?
We want to form a government on a positive note. People welcome our policies, our new system. Even the party setup is quite different. Out of our 40 candidates, 33 are new faces, including celebrities. They have never been involved in dirty politics, they are free from fanaticism, and they have a good reputation in the public.
The contest is being seen as a three-cornered one between the ZPM, MNF and Congress. Do you think it will be difficult for any one party to form the government?
It’s not actually a three-cornered fight. The Congress is not a force to be reckoned with now, they are a spent force. Our main rival is the MNF. It will almost be a straight fight between my party and the MNF.
Are you in talks with anyone for a post-poll alliance if it comes to that?
We don’t need that. We expect a comfortable majority to form the government.
In a recent visit to Mizoram, Congress’s Rahul Gandhi hit out at the MNF and ZPM by clubbing them together and calling them an “entry point for the RSS” into the state. What is your response?
That is a totally false statement and unbecoming of a national leader like Rahul Gandhi… As far as the MNF is concerned, his statement is true because the MNF is a part and parcel of the (BJP-led Northeast Democratic Alliance) and (National Democratic Alliance). So they are fighting the elections together and the state’s lone MP in Lok Sabha is always supporting the NDA government whenever a Bill is introduced, even though those Bills are resented by the people here.
The MNF has lost its originality, its identity. It’s not really a regional party as such. My party is a regional party with a national outlook and we are not going to join any political group at the national level because we don’t want to have bosses in Delhi who will dictate to us. We want to make final decisions here in our own house. So supporting or opposing the Central government, whoever they may be, would be on an issue basis.
In the Northeast, we have seen a pattern of regional parties tying up with the BJP, assisting it in making inroads into those states.
Our principles and policies are quite different… In Mizoram, the ruling party is with them. We don’t have any connection with the BJP whatsoever.
Will the MNF government’s support of refugees from Myanmar and Manipur work in their favour in the election?
The people coming from Myanmar and Manipur are our own brothers and sisters. Blood is thicker than water. The Church, the NGOs, all political parties, we all stand behind them and we have given them assistance, either in cash or in kind. But the MNF, being the ruling party, has more resources. That doesn’t mean they have more regard for them or more interest in them. This issue will not be a factor in the election. No single political party will be able to take an advantage out of this… because we have the same stand.
