Mizoram, Congress’s last remaining fort in NE, goes to polls tomorrow

Aizawl, Nov 27: It is one of the few remaining states that the Congress still controls in the Northeast. Forty Assembly constituencies of Mizoram will head to the election on Wednesday, November 28, along with Madhya Pradesh. The Congress led by Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla is in power in this state since 2003 while the BJP, which has made a steady rise in the northeast over the last few years, is yet to make a political debut here. The Congress is in power in Punjab, Karnataka and Puducherry besides Mizoram now.

Both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi have made sharp attacks on each other in the run-up to the polls in Mizoram, the results of which will be out on December 11. Although the fight in Mizoram is mainly between the Congress and Mizo National Front, which is a member of the North Eastern Democratic Alliance led by the BJP, but has no alliance with the saffron party in this election. The BJP's local leadership is also confident of winning over 20 seats in this election, rubbishing allegations that the BJP is perceived as an anti-Christian outfit in a Christian dominate stated.

The Congress won 34 out of 40 seats in the state in 2013 while the MNF won five while one was won by Mizoram People's Conference. CM Thanhawla claimed that there is no anti-incumbency in the state and is confident of completing a hat-trick. There are in all 209 candidates in fray for the Mizoram election this year.

The CM is contesting from two seats this time. One is Serchhip , from where he won in 2013 and also Champhai South which was also won by the Congress last time.