Preparations are on for voting in the Mizoram assembly election on Wednesday
The people of Mizoram will vote tomorrow in the only north-east state where the Congress is in power, as the party looks to protect its citadel from the BJP's advancing army and guerrilla attacks from the regional Mizo National Front. The BJP, powered by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "development for all" campaign, is hoping to repeat the success it saw in other north-east states like Assam, Tripura and Manipur.
The Congress has been in power in Mizoram since 2008. In the 2013 elections, the Congress won 34 seats, while the MNF got five and the Mizoram People's Conference one in the 40-member assembly.
The MNF, an ally of the BJP in the centre, says it is confident that it doesn't need the BJP's help to unseat the Congress this time. "I have a strong belief that I don't need any other party and particularly the BJP to form government," said MNF president and former Mizoram chief minister Zoramthanga, who ran the state between 1998 and 2008.
This has forced the BJP to look for post-poll options even before election day. "Our options are open. If we get a respectable number of seats, then we have friends in Congress, MNF and ZNP (Zoram Nationalist Party). Our doors will be open to all three political parties in their individual capacity," said Himanta Biswa Sarma, the BJP's strategist in the north-east.
In 2014, when the NDA led by PM Modi came to power, the Congress ruled five of the eight states in the north-east. The Congress is desperately looking to retain power in Mizoram, especially before the national elections in 2019.
An alliance of six regional parties, however, has made this election even more tougher for the Congress.
"My actual feeling is that the more the merrier because despite being in power for 10 years, we don't find any anti-incumbency," Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla told NDTV.
Most of the people who NDTV met on the streets of state capital Mizoram say they will judge the Congress government on the promises it has made and how much of it has been fulfilled.
Hiruata, 25, a cab driver in Aizawl, says basic needs have not been met for years. "This government could not get us good roads, electricity is bad; we need three things -- good roads, electricity and water," he said.
Mizoram civil society groups say a majority of the issues in public life revolves around the church, and politics is no exception. What the church thinks influences almost every aspect of the Mizo society, and that also involves elections, they say.
Seven lakh people will vote tomorrow in the election in which 209 candidates are contesting.