Mizoram: Can BJP breach last-standing North East frontier in 2023?

The Bharatiya Janata Party has set its eyes on Mizoram, the last remaining fortress that the saffron party has never been able to breach. Mizoram, which goes to polls in 2023, has never had a government of the BJP — not even one where the party has been in an alliance. In a bid to end its quest for power, the BJP now plans to contest from all 40 seats in the Mizoram Assembly elections.

The BJP’s war cry ahead of the elections, which will also see the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) mark its debut in Mizoram (it plans to contest 25 seats in the 40-member Assembly), came after it emerged as the single-largest party in the Mara Autonomous District Council (MADC) polls. The elections held in May initially threw up a hung House.

In a first for Mizoram, the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) stitched together an alliance with its arch-rival Congress to form a government in the Mara Autonomous District Council after the fractured verdict. However, the MNF-Congress council was voted out of power just six months later in a no-confidence motion, with the BJP, the single-largest party with 12 members, forming the council with three MNF members who quit the ruling party in the state.

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In the 2018 elections, the Mizo National Front won an absolute majority in Mizoram, riding on strong anti-incumbency against the Congress, which managed to win just five seats. Other factors that worked in its favour included its promise to bring total prohibition in the state and implement the socio-economic development programme (SEDP).

The MNF won 26 seats in the 40-member Assembly, and the BJP had won one seat. After the win, MNF chief and former insurgent leader Zoramthanga took oath as Mizoram chief minister for the third time.

The upcoming elections come in the backdrop of the refugees influx issue in Mizoram, which is already overburdened with Kuki-Chin refugees, with whom Mizos share ethnic ties, from strife-torn Myanmar, and also has fresh influx of displaced people from the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh this year.

Moreover, the Zoramthanga administration is also reeling under a severe financial crunch due to the COVID-19 pandemic and alleged delay by the Centre in releasing the state’s share of taxes and grants which has resulted in salaries, pensions, and clearance of bills being delayed.

The state has also been witnessing border clashes with the neighbouring states, which may also determine the electoral course of the state.