Lal Thanhawla Clears Air: No Post-poll ties with BJP

Guwahati: Sensing the BJP’s ploy to create confusion in the minds of voters in Christian-majority Mizoram which is going to elect representatives to the state Assembly on November 28, the chief minister and veteran Congress leader, Lal Thanhawla has made it clear that there is no possibility of an alliance with the BJP in a post-poll scenario though he has stated that Congress is open to having post-poll ties with ‘like-minded’ parties if the need arises.

Lal Thanhawla’s statement came in the wake of BJP leader and convenor of BJP-floated North East Development Alliance (NEDA), Dr. Himanta Bishwa Sharma reiterating on Saturday that BJP was open to having a post-poll alliance with Lal Thanhawla.

“While Congress remains a rival, the party (BJP) could explore post-polls options with chief minister Lal Thanhawla. Mizoram Congress has a different constitution. They are different from the Delhi Congress. Lal Thanhawla can take independent decisions,” Sharma stated in Aizawl.

Realising that the BJP leader’s comment may create confusion in the minds of Christian voters in Mizoram and act in the advantage of arch-rival Mizo National Front (MNF), Lal Thanhawal wasted no time in reiterating on Sunday that ruled out possibility of any alliance with either the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or the Mizo National Front (MNF).

Thanhawla hinted that the Congress was open to form an alliance with like-minded parties after the results of ensuing Assembly elections are declared, but at the same time claimed that such a situation would not arise as Congress would get a majority on its own.

In Mizoram, support of 21 MLAs is needed to form a government in the 40-member Assembly.

The BJP which doesn’t have a firm foothold in Mizoram, however, wants to see the back of Congress after the polls and would be happy even if MNF wins the poll. The BJP’s prime concern is to see Congress out of power in the entire Northeast.

Mizoram is the only north-eastern state where the Congress is still in power. In the rest of the seven states in the region BJP is leading governments in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Tripura which it is part of the ruling coalition led by its regional allies in Meghalaya, Nagaland and Sikkim.

The Congress believes that there is a covert understanding between the MNF and the BJP given that MNF was part of the BJP-floated NEDA though it has not struck any pre-poll alliance with the BJP for Mizoram polls fearing rejection by dominant Christian voters in the tiny hill state.

Also read: Mizoram News