Between 1989 and 2018, power in Mizoram has alternated between the Congress and the Mizo National Front (MNF), an extremist group-turned-political party, in 10-year blocks. History, thus, seemed to favour a second successive term for the MNF until the Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) began shaping up as a major challenger in the State.
The ZPM, a five-year-old regional entity that replaced the Congress as the principal Opposition in the 40-member Assembly in 2018, gave the MNF a scare by sweeping all 11 seats in the Lunglei Municipal Council polls in April.
The scenario changed a month later when ethnic violence between the non-tribal Meitei and the tribal Kuki-Zo people broke out in adjoining Manipur on May 3. Chief Minister Zoramthanga, also the president of the MNF, virtually stole the thunder from the Congress and the ZPM by taking a stand for the Kuki-Zo people, ethnically related to the Mizos.
Caught napping
As over 12,500 Kuki-Zo people displaced from Manipur took shelter in Mizoram, Mr. Zoramthanga upped the Zo unity game.
Both the Congress, under new president Lalsawta, and the ZPM, headed by former IPS officer Lalduhawma, were slow to react to the Manipur crisis, which left no room for criticising the MNF. While the former hopes to make a comeback, the latter believes that its promise of a “new political system” would stand it in good stead.
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