Mizoram’s Mandate 2023 was a first on two counts. The State’s electorate voted a party other than the Mizo National Front (MNF) and the Congress to power for the first time in almost 40 years. It also elected more than one woman to the 40-member Assembly for the first time.
The first political party to rule Mizoram after it became a Union Territory in 1972 was the Mizo Union. The State had to wait for six years to get its first woman MLA – L. Thanmawii of the People’s Conference, which formed the government under Brigadier Thenphunga Sailo in 1978.
K. Thansiami of the People’s Conference became the second woman MLA in 1984, three years before the MNF’s Lalhlimpuii became the first woman Minister of the State. Vanlalawmpuii Chawngthu became the second Minister in the Congress government headed by Lal Thanhawla in 2017.
Each of the four from 1972 to 2017 was the lone woman MLA in Mizoram.
A total of 16 women contested the Assembly election this time with Lalramdingngheti and Lalruatfeli Hlwando contesting two seats each as Independents. The victory of Lalrinpuii and Baryl Vanneihsangi, both of the Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) and Prova Chakma of the MNF has ensured the best strike – 0.19 – ever for women candidates in Mizoram.
The strike rate for the 37 elected men was 0.23.
Ms. Vanneihsangi, a former radio jockey, said the entry of more women in the Mizoram Assembly was inevitable as barriers are being broken across the globe. “It is a proud moment for women but the challenge ahead is to live up to the expectations of the people who gave us a chance to change the system,” she said.
At 32, she is the youngest MLA-elect along with former India footballer Jeje Lalpekhlua of the ZPM, who won from the South Tuipui constituency.
Ms. Vanneihsangi won from the Aizawl South-III seat by defeating F. Lalnunmawia of the MNF by 1,414 votes while Ms. Lalrinpuii triumphed over Joseph Lalhimpuia of the Congress by 1,646 votes to win the Lunglei East seat. Ms. Prova Chakma won the West Tuipui constituency by defeating Nihar Kanti Chakma of the Congress by 711 votes.
BJP doubles seat count
The BJP doubled its seat count in five years at a better strike rate but the improved performance is unlikely to make it a major force in the Christian-majority Mizoram.
Mizoram is the only State in the northeast where the BJP has not ruled on its own or in alliance with non-Congress parties. Although the small northeastern States are dependent on the Centre, it is believed that the ZPM would be wary of being tagged with a party seen as pushing the Hindutva agenda.
The BJP had fielded 23 candidates for the November 7 Assembly election in Mizoram. Two of them – K. Beichhua and K. Hrahmo, both from the southern Siaha district – won.
In 2018, the BJP had contested 39 of the State’s 40 seats but only Buddha Dhan Chakma managed to win from one of two constituencies in the Buddhist Chakma tribe-dominated part of Mizoram. The BJP lost both these seats to the MNF this time.
On the flip side, the BJP’s vote percentage dipped from 8.09 in 2018 to 5.06 this time. The party could muster 0.37% of the votes in 2013.
Apart from the Chakma areas, the BJP was banking on at least three northern Mizoram constituencies where the Bru community has considerable voting strength. Party’s State president Vanlalhmuaka lost the Dampa seat to MNF’s Lalrintluanga Sailo by a margin of 310 votes while Lalrinliana Sailo, a former Assembly Speaker who switched over from the MNF, finished fourth in Mamit.
