The election to Mizoram’s lone Rajya Sabha seat has become a direct contest between the ruling Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) and the opposition Mizo National Front (MNF) on Thursday after both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress announced that they would abstain from voting.
The decision by the BJP, which has two MLAs in the 40-member Mizoram Legislative Assembly, and the Congress, which has one legislator, effectively narrows the contest to candidates fielded by the ruling ZPM and the MNF. Both parties issued statements on Wednesday confirming that their legislators would not participate in the voting process.
State BJP leaders said the party’s two MLAs – K Beichhua, who also serves as the Mizoram BJP president, and K Hrahmo – would stay away from the polling in accordance with directions issued by the party’s national leadership.
The Mizoram Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) also announced that its Political Affairs Committee (PAC) had decided to abstain from voting. The Congress currently has one MLA, C Ngunlianchunga, who represents the Lawngtlai West constituency.
“Our party had received a formal request from the MNF seeking the Congress legislator’s support. However, the committee concluded that extending support to either the MNF or the ruling ZPM would indirectly amount to supporting the BJP because both parties maintain political links with the NDA,” the Congress said in a statement issued on Wednesday.
A fresh controversy emerged on Tuesday when ZPM candidate K. Laltluangkima reportedly stated during an interview with a local television channel that any ZPM legislator who engaged in cross-voting would be treated as invalid.
For the lone Rajya Sabha seat from Mizoram, the ruling ZPM has fielded party spokesperson K Laltluangkima, while the main opposition MNF has nominated advocate and writer Zothansangi Hmar as its candidate.
