Voting to elect all 40 members of the 9th Mizoram Assembly began across the state on Tuesday at 7am. This is the first phase of polling of the assembly elections in five states the results of which will be declared on December 3.
Mizoram has had eight elections to the assembly since the state attained statehood in February 1987. The previous elections have witnessed power shifting between Congress and the Mizo National Front, which is in power at present.
“Around 6000 poll personnel, 3000 policemen of state police plus 50 companies of central armed police forces (CAPF) will be on duty. A total of 1276 EVMs and VVPATs plus 20% reserve will be on standby,” informed Madhup Vyas, chief electoral officer, Mizoram on Monday.
Around 10,000 voters have already voted before the scheduled date. They include persons who are over 80 years of age or persons with disabilities and service voters or poll personnel who have cast postal ballots.
Voters were seen queuing up outside polling stations in the capital Aizawl since early morning. Mizoram usually witnesses high voter turnouts and peaceful voting. In 2018, the voting percentage of 81.31, slightly higher than 80.82% recorded five years ago. For this election, voting will continue till 4pm.
The state has a total of 857,063 voters (413,062 male, 439,026 female and 4975 service voters). There are a total of 1276 polling stations and 174 candidates in the fray. While the ruling MNF and opposition Congress and Zoram Peoples Movement have fielded candidates in all 40 seats, BJP is contesting 23.
The present Mizoram assembly doesn’t have any women legislators. Till date, the state has elected just four women MLAs. There are 16 women candidates in the fray this time – three from BJP, two each from Congress, MNF and ZPM and the rest Independents. The most prominent among them is Vanlalawmpuii Chawngtu, a Congress candidate from the Aizawl South-II seat, who had won earlier as well.
Aizawl district with 2,86,816 has the highest number of voters while Hnahthial with 16,261 has the least. Among the 40 constituencies, Tuichawng in Lawngtlai district has the highest number of voters (36,041) and Thorang in Lunglei district has the least (14,924).
Of all the 1,276 polling stations, Zemabawk VIII has the highest number of voters (1,481) and Thehlep with 26 has the least number of voters.
“To ensure conduct of free, fair and transparent elections, arrangement has been made for webcasting in 765 of the 1,276 polling stations, which is 60% of all polling stations in the state,” informed H Lianzela, additional chief electoral officer, Mizoram.
This time a keen contest between two regional parties, the ruling Mizo National Front and the opposition Zoram Peoples Movement, is expected with the two national parties Congress and BJP vying for voter’s attention as well.
In 2018, the MNF returned to power in Mizoram after 10 years, defeating the Congress in its last bastion in the northeast. The MNF bagged 26 of the 40 seats and secured a majority on its own with a 37.70% vote share. The Congress, which was in power since 2008, came third with just five seats and 30% of the total votes.
In 2008, Congress defeated MNF, which was in power since 1998, by winning 32 seats. Five years later, Congress won 34 seats while MNF managed to bag just five.
Zoram Peoples Movement (ZPM), which was formed a year earlier after the merger of seven parties, replaced the Congress as the second biggest party with eight seats in 2018.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) managed to win just one seat in the Christian-majority state five years ago—its first victory in Mizoram. The ZPM secured around 23% of the votes and the BJP eight per cent in 2018.
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