In the run-up to the state Assembly elections, both Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are eyeing regional parties for forming alliance in Mizoram. While the BJP has already started targeting minority tribes by reaching out to their representative political parties, the Congress is yet to make significant announcements.
Sources in the Congress said that the party is expected to make crucial announcements in a few days. The All India Congress Committee (AICC) has deputed Bhupen Kumar Borah to visit the state and talk to the local leadership. Borah hails from Assam and has been attached to the office of C.P. Joshi who is AICC in-charge of north-eastern states.
Similarly, BJP Northeast Zonal Secretary Ajay Jamwal said, “In the next 2-3 months, the picture of alliances will be clear. We are closely looking at different regional parties and leaders. Everybody is a potential ally.”
Taking interest in smaller regional parties, BJP has started to attract leaders from Hmar People’s Convention (HPC), a political party that represents a minority tribe that is among one of the most deprived in the state. Key Hmar leader Hmingchunghnung, who is the outgoing chairman of Sinlung Hill Development Council, joined BJP earlier this month; 14 other leaders followed his lead and left HPC. One of the founders of the HPC, Hmingchunghnung joined BJP making clear his intentions that they intend to bring Hmar people’s demand into the mainstream discourse.
HPC used to be a rebel outfit before it turned into a political party representing over 30,000 people of this small northeastern tribe. The demand for an autonomous district council seems to have been a binding force for HPC and BJP, as it has long been neglected by the incumbent Congress government. Another regional party to join hands with BJP is Maraland Democratic Front (MDF) that has merged itself with the BJP. MDF has had a significant following in the southern part of the state and has been a consistent ruler of the Mara Autonomous District Council. MDF earlier was an ally of the opposition MNF, but since merging with the BJP, its two members of district council also go in BJP’s kitty.
MNF, the largest regional party in the state, has already announced that it will not ally with the BJP. Since MNF has its roots in anti-Congress movement started after the 1959 famine in the state, it is unlikely for MNF to ally with Congress, given that it is also part of the North-East Regional Political Front that consists of political parties of the northeast which has supported the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by BJP.
MNF leaders have been at odds with the BJP in the state since earlier this year, BJP chose Congress members to rule the Chakma Autonomous District Council (CADC), sidelining MNF which had scored the highest votes. The Congress had scored six seats, BJP won five seats and MNF had won eight seats in the election to the 20-member CADC. MNF has announced that it will contest elections on all 40 seats without any coalition.
However, Jamwal, hinting at the possibility to ally with MNF, said, “MNF is the most influential regional party in Mizoram. They are angry, but they are part of our North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA). Everything will be fine by November.”
Among other key regional players is a newly formed party popular by the acronym PRISM. According to locals, PRISM has a reputation of an educated, well-informed group of people who have done anti-corruption studies on the Congress government and have made some revelations. The BJP leadership has hinted at aligning with PRISM. However, not aligning with either of the national parties, small regional parties have come together to form the Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM).
ZPM is an alliance between Zoram Nationalist Party (ZN), Mizoram People’s Conference and Zoram Exodus Movement (ZEM). ZEM was recently formed by retired priests, retired government officials and senior journalists who proved a driving force in bring the three parties together under the same banner.