The Rebel Returns

Mizoram Has a History of Voting Out Governments After Two Terms. Seeking a Third Term , The Congress Was, in a Way, Staring at Defeat

- Kaushik Deka

The Congress’s ouster from Mizoram has certainly fulfilled Amit Shah’s dream of a Congress-mukt northeast, but there is little reason for the BJP president to celebrate. In the 40-member assembly, the Mizoram National Front (MNF), a regional party led by two-time chief minister Zoramthanga, swept the polls by winning 26 seats. The MNF is a member of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the Centre and the North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), a BJP-led umbrella organisation of nonCongress parties from the northeast. NEDA convenor and Assam finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has already tried to project this victory as the BJP’s success. “With the MNF winning Mizoram, the constituents of NEDA will head governments in the entire northeast. We worked towards it tirelessly for the past three years under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he said.