At last minute,militancy a poll issue in Mizoram

working with militants to get votes in the northern areas bordering Manipur,home to large populations of the Hmar and Paite tribes,some of whose leaders have for years demanded tribal districts.

The row began on Wednesday when Hmar leader B Zahunga,appointed by the Congress as a member of the Sinlung Hills Development Council in a region inhabited largely by Hmars,was shot in the ankle by militants while he was walking home.

The Congress immediately blamed the Zoram Nationalist Party,said to be the dark horse in the polls owing to the popularity of its president,Lalduhoma. The Congress has charged it with working with militants.

The ZNP,possibly facing its most hopeful election yet as it has never formed a government,has gone into damage control,holding press conferences to deny the allegations and condemning an assault by Congress workers on a campaigner for a ZNP candidate.

ZNP leaders also distributed copies of agreements between leaders of the Congress and the Mizo National Front (the MDAs main constituent) just ahead of past assembly elections.

The Hmar Welfare Committee,whose members are peace talks delegates of the militant group Hmar Peoples Convention Democratic,too issued a public statement saying Hmar political leaders had in the past been betrayed by the Congress and the MNF.

What has made these allegations and counter-allegations a major last-minute poll issue is that a consortium of the states largest mass-based voluntary organisations has issued a joint statement asking people not to vote for parties that rely on the strength of militants to win votes.

The Contest

Congress: 32 MLAs in outgoing 40-member house. It has been declaring: Congress is winning,and it appeals to all to recognise how miserable it is to be represented by an opposition MLA,and so vote for the Congress.

Mizoram Democratic Allaince: Includes Mizo National Front. Aggressively campaigning in all 40 seats,relying not only on the Mizo nationalism it has championed since its formation in the early 1960s but also on the Congresss alleged misrule.

Zoram Nationalist Party: The most aggressive in the run-up. Its campaign is based not just on promoting its own policies but tearing apart those of both the Congress and MNF. Led by the popular Lalduhoma,it has never been in power.