GUWAHATI: Campaigning for the upcoming assembly polls in Mizoram came to a close with prayer sessions in churches on Sunday as 174 candidates, including 18 women, gear up for the showdown tomorrow.
Expected to be a triangular contest between ruling Mizo National Front (MNF), Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) and the Congress, the BJP, without being a major player in this election, managed to grab headlines throughout the campaigning.
Be it ruling MNF’s decision to put NEDA alliance on the line and maintain distance from the Saffron party or Congress alleging ZPM of being a “secret ally” of the BJP, the saffron party remained in the news without being a frontrunner in the polls.
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During the campaigning, the MNF had made it clear that its NEDA alliance with the BJP is only “issued-based” and going by the incidents of church burning in strife-torn, neighbouring Manipur, it doesn’t desire any alliance with it.
Chief Minister Zoramthanga even refused to share the dais with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in public meetings ahead of PM Modi’s visit to the poll-bound state.
The Laladuhoma-led ZPM too had declared that they would not form a post-poll alliance with the BJP, even if they fail to secure a majority in the state assembly.
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“People don’t expect a coalition government,” the party had said during the campaigning.
The Congress had earlier claimed that a “secret agreement” had been reached between the ZPM and the BJP, pointing to ZPM leader Lalduhoma’s recent trips to Guwahati as evidence.
Amid all these developments, the BJP had announced that it is open to form alliance with either MNF and ZPM; keeping the door open if poll results lead to a fractured mandate.
