Mizoram Assembly Elections happened on 7 November 2023. Voting was done in a free and fair manner.
Aizawl Deputy Commissioner Nazuk Kumar said, “We had 12 strong rooms where we kept the EVMs, and the strictest security measures were taken according to the protocols of the Election Commission.”
Percentage of Votes cast in Mizoram Assembly Elections
According to the data of ECI, the Aizawl district witnessed the lowest turnout of voters’ 73.09 percent. South Mizoram’s Siaha recorded 76.41 percent and Saitual 75.12 percent of voters turned out to cast their votes.
The Mizoram assembly elections passed off peacefully with over 77 percent of 8.57 lakh electors exercising their franchise to vote. Some said that the voting percentage might have touched 80 percent as calculating all data from far-flung districts.
Additional chief electoral officer H Lianzela said that the voting was underway in certain polling stations even at 5 pm, an hour after the 4 pm deadline, as people were waiting in long queues to exercise their franchise.
Mizoram went to polls for all the 40 assembly seats in the state. Several constituencies in Mizoram recorded high polling percentages. According to poll data till 5 pm, the Serchhip seat reported a voter turnout of 83.96 percent, Mamit 83.42 percent, Hnahthial 82.62 percent, Khawazawl 82.39 percent, and Kolasib 80.13 percent. This is one of the largest polling outcomes in Mizoram assembly elections.
Although the assembly polls in Mizoram were officially conducted by the Election Commission of India (ECI), but the MPF was the real force on the ground that ensured the implementation of all poll norms. The Mizoram People’s Forum (MPF) is a powerful church-sponsored election watchdog, that ensures adherence to all election-related activities of both the voters and political parties during the state polls.
By looking at some discrepancies that happened in Mizoram’s Aizwal South III constituency, the Election Commission called for repolling. So, voting took place between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. in Muallungthu polling station on 8 November 2023.
A total of 1,084 voters, including 548 female voters, were eligible to exercise their franchise in the polling station.
Political Agendas in Mizoram Assembly Elections
Bru refugees for the first time were excluded from the Mizoram electoral list. Most of these refugees migrated to Tripura under the quadripartite agreement signed between the Central government, the governments of Tripura and Mizoram, and Bru refugee representatives. The agreement aimed to permanently settle the Bru refugees in Tripura.
Looking at this, the office of Chief Election Officer Mizoram deleted about 14,000 Bru voters from the electoral rolls after they became permanent residents of Tripura. It signifies the complete exclusion of Bru from the electoral process in Mizoram. Some Bru people still live in Mizoram, especially in the Mamit district. Why are they excluded?
BJP in his political manifesto promised to make Mizoram drug-free post 7 November Mizoram Assembly elections, if wins the polls. Mizoram is heavily impacted by the drug triangle making the youth of the state victim of drugs. Through “Operation Drug-free Mizoram,” BJP aimed at curbing the pervasive issue of drug addiction among the state’s youth. The drug problem in the state is dire, with a staggering 1,794 lives lost since the 1980s.
The drugs originate in Myanmar and infiltrate India through the porous border the state shares with its eastern neighbor.
Additionally, the party promises to set up a special investigating team to examine potential irregularities and corruption in the implementation of the Socio-Economic Development Programme.
The MNF’s electoral promise of unifying the Zo people under a single administration seeks to address historical grievances suffered by the Zo community. Advocating for their consolidation aligns with international principles outlined in the UN’s 2007 Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, emphasizing the rights of indigenous communities to self-determination and cultural preservation.
The Mizo Peace Accord of 1986 stands as a pivotal milestone in Mizoram’s history, exerting a critical influence on the MNF’s proposed Zo unification initiative. This historic agreement marked the culmination of a two-decade-long Mizo Insurgency, a period of protracted conflict and unrest in the region. The Accord was a product of painstaking negotiations between the Government of India and the Mizo National Front, eventually leading to a framework for peace, reconciliation, and the restoration of normalcy.
Conclusion
All political parties have played their part well by drafting manifestos to woo the Mizoram voters. But now, the real game is on that people select whom as their representative and hence who comes in the state in majority.
By looking at the data, prediction showed more than 80 percent of voters turned in to vote and experience their franchise. This depicted that people were well aware of their right to vote. People are the real government in a democracy.
