The Mizoram assembly election saw a three-way contest
New Delhi:
Zoram People's Movement (ZPM), an Opposition alliance of six parties, has posted a thumping victory in Mizoram, which went to polls on November 7. ZPM won 27 seats in the 40-member assembly, comprehensively defeating the ruling Mizo National Front.
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According to the Election Commission's website, ZPM won 27 seats in the 40-member Assembly. The ruling MNF managed 10 seats. The BJP has won two seats, while the Congress won just one.
In a shock poll result, Incumbent Chief Minister Zoramthanga lost the election from Aizawl East-1 constituency. His deputy Tawnluia too suffered defeat in Tuichang.
Incumbent Chief Minister Zoramthanga submitted his resignation to Governor Dr Hari Babu Kambhampati in Aizawl this afternoon.
Speaking to the media, he said, "Because of the anti-incumbency effect, people are not satisfied with my performance, so I lost... I accept the verdict of the people and I hope that the next government will perform well... It is the anti-incumbency and Covid onslaught."
The MNF, ZPM and the Congress had contested 40 seats each, and the BJP fielded candidates in 13 seats. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which contested the assembly polls in Mizoram for the first time, contested four seats. There were 17 independent candidates too.
Some exit polls had predicted a clean sweep by the ZPM, but the majority indicated a hung assembly, with no party getting a clear majority.
In the last assembly election in 2018, the MNF won 26 seats and the ZPM eight seats, relegating the Congress that bagged five seats to the third place. The BJP won one seat.
Zoramthanga's party has projected him as the "guardian of the Chin-Kuki-Zo tribes", though his rivals and other parties like the BJP has accused him of corruption, not checking rising unemployment and drug trafficking, and poor infrastructure.
Though the MNF is an ally of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Zoramthanga - citing kinship and familial ties with the Chin-Kuki tribes in Myanmar - has openly given shelter to at least 40,000 refugees who fled from the junta rule in the neighbouring nation.
Earlier, ZPM chief Lalduhoma said people are tired of the MNF. "Mizoram has been under the MNF for a long time. And people really want change in the way they are governed. They want to end corruption," Lalduhoma told NDTV during the campaign.
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