Mizoram Elections: Rahul Gandhi Focuses On Mizo And Christian Cards To Revive Congress's Fortunes

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi durina padyatra in Aizawl, Mizoram.

Source : PTI

This week, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was on a two-day visit to the poll-bound northeastern state of Mizoram to convey to the people of the state that the Congress party cares about them. Early this year, when the three northeastern states — Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland — went to polls, Rahul was on a one-day visit to only Meghalaya ignoring the other two states. Through this two-day visit, Rahul seems to have tried to correct that image of the Congress in the northeastern region, which was once a bastion of the grand old party.

In this election, the contest in the northeastern state is mainly between the ruling Mizo National Front led by Chief Minister Zoramthanga and the main Opposition party Zoram People’s Movement led by senior politician Lalduhoma. In this binary politics between MNF and ZPM, Congress, which till the last elections was one of the main players in the state’s binary politics, has been relegated to third place.

To revive the fortunes of Congress in the northeastern state, Rahul Gandhi, during his two-day visit, tried to play the Mizo and the Christian cards. He attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for speaking on Israel while ignoring the Manipur issue. To be fair, Modi did speak on Manipur during the no-confidence motion brought by the INDIA Opposition in the Lok Sabha but since then he hasn’t spoken on it, despite the fact that the northeastern state of Manipur still awaits normalcy even after more than five months of ethnic violence.

The former Congress president tried to woo the dominant Mizo Christians by showing fear of the BJP. This became clear when he trained his guns against the ruling MNF for being a constituent of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. Not only MNF, but he also attacked ZPM and accused both the regional parties as pathways of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ideological parent of the BJP. Apart from this, he also promised that Congress, if it comes to power, would revive the old pension and reduce gas cylinder price to Rs 750 and claimed that the party would focus on the generation of employment for young people. Importantly, Rahul, as reported by Mizoram Post, refused to comment on how many seats the grand old party is expecting to win — a sign of not being confident about the party's prospects in the state. 

It has to be mentioned that in the last elections too, the grand old party, which was then the ruling party, had played the Christian card to win the elections — but it failed miserably with the MNF winning the elections with a clear majority and the ZPM becoming the main Opposition party.

 

MZP Opposing Congress Candidate Not A Healthy Sign For Social Fabric Of Mizoram

The Mizo Students’ Association, commonly known as Mizo Zirlai Pawl, the apex students’ body in the state, has been opposing the Congress candidate of Lunglei South assembly constituency, Meriam L Hrangchal. The reason for this opposition has to do with Hrangchal’s marriage to a non-Mizo individual. The organisation has been even organising protests against the candidate.
This is really unfortunate. India is a democracy where the constitution allows every citizen to contest elections. Why should Congress withdraw the candidature of Hrangchal just because she is married to a non-Mizo?

The apex body of students appealing not to cast votes for a non-Mizo candidate isn’t a good indicator of a healthy social fabric. This is not the first time. Last time, the civil society organisations, including MZP, had appealed to the political parties not to nominate any Chakma candidates in the assembly elections — and as a result of this appeal, two parties, Zoram Nationalist Party and Mizoram People’s Conference, didn’t field any Chakma candidates. It has to be mentioned that Chakmas, practicing Buddhism, are a religious minority. Such demands of not fielding a non-Mizo candidate cater to majoritarianism and weaken the democracy of the northeastern state. One shouldn't forget that democracy fails if minorities are kept out of the system.

 

Mizoram Elections | BJP Fields 23 Candidates With Focus On Ethnic Minority-Influenced Seats

In the last state elections of Mizoram, the BJP contested 39 seats out of 40 and secured a vote percentage of 8.09%. But this time, the saffron party has decided to field only 23 candidates, including four female candidates, with a focus on seats where the ethnic minorities are either dominant or have a sizable population.

The saffron party has given tickets to three former MNF leaders.  Former minister K Beichhua has been given a ticket from the Mara-dominated Siaha constituency while former assembly speaker Lalrinliana Sailo and former Chief Executive Member of Chakma Autonomous District Council, Durjya Dhan Chakma were given tickets from Mamit, where ethnic Bru minorities have a sizable presence, and Tuichawng respectively. Along with Durjya Dhan, the saffron party has given a ticket to another Buddhist Chakma, Shanti Bikash Chakma in the Thorang seat, which has around 30% Chakma voters.

Interestingly, the saffron party didn’t nominate a Chakma candidate this time from the West Tuipui seat. It has to be mentioned that Chakmas are a majority in both Tuichawng and West Tuipui seats. The saffron party has been hoping to increase its tally by banking on the support of ethnic minorities like Chakmas, Brus and Maras. Last time, the party opened its account for the first time in the Chakma-dominated Tuichawng seat. This time the party didn’t nominate its only legislator Buddha Dhan Chakma as he has announced his retirement from politics.

 

Factionalism Within Tripura Congress Comes out In Open During Rahul Gandhi’s Visit

While heading to the poll-bound Mizoram, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi made a stoppage in Tripura. At the Maharaja Bir Bikram Airport in Agartala, he held a meeting with state party leaders to take stock of the party’s organisational status in this northeastern state. The state party president Ashish Saha and the two legislators — Sudip Barman and Gopal Roy — were present at the meeting. Interestingly, the only legislator absent during the meeting was Birajit Sinha, who has been unhappy with the party since he was removed from the post of state president this year. Ashish Saha, who was appointed as the state president this year, is seen as a shadow of Sudip. Importantly, this year, Sudip was included as a permanent invitee member of the Congress Working Committee — the only member in the apex Congress body from the state.

Factionalism has always been an important part of Congress’s journey in the state. With the rise of the Sudip faction in the party, Birajit’s power within the party has been on the decline. There have been speculations in the state politics for the last two-three months about Birajit Sinha joining the saffron party. Importantly, in a party rally in minority-dominated Irani of Kailashahar, BJP state president Rajib Bhattacharjee claimed that an important Congress leader, an indirect reference to Birajit, is in contact with the saffron party. It has to be mentioned that Birajit Sinha is a legislator from the Kailashahar constituency.

The author is a political commentator.

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