A good reason to be wary of ZPM's victory
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: December 06, 2023 -

More than the leaders and supporters of Zoram People's Movement (ZPM) themselves, the success of the opposition alliance of six parties in the just concluded assembly elections in Mizoram, where it has not just wrested power for the first time by delivering a crushing defeat to the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) but also made its supremo and three-time Chief Minister Zoramthanga to eat humble pie, seems to have brought more cheers to the people of Manipur.

Right from Chief Minister N Biren Singh and his cabinet colleagues to the people in the streets and roadside tea stalls, everyone is talking about the humiliating defeat of Zoramthanga in his own Aizawl East-I home constituency to Lalthansanga of ZPM by a margin of 2,101 votes.

If one looks at the social media posts and memes, then, less said the better.

While projecting himself as "the guardian of Chin-Kuki-Zo tribes", Zoramthanga had done everything possible to capitalise on the ongoing conflict between the Meitei/ Meetei and Kuki-Chin people in Manipur.

When Chief Minister N Biren Singh reached out to him seeking help in resolving the humanitarian crisis in Manipur, Zoramthanga, who in the past had successfully brokered peace between the Centre and several insurgent groups operating in the region, did nothing other than fuelling the conflict by his partisan approach.

He exploited the crisis in Manipur to the hilt as a golden opportunity for him and his party to deflect from mounting charges of nepotism and financial mismanagement and other real issues afflicting Mizoram so as to remain in power for another term.

Even he did not have any qualm over joining a protest demonstration taken out by members of civil society organisations in Aizawl, while holding Chief Minister Biren Singh responsible for the ethnic crisis in Manipur.

Thus, Chief Minister N Biren Singh, his cabinet colleagues and the people of Manipur have every reason to be happy about the defeat of Zoramthanga and his party in the Mizoram assembly election.

Even though anti-incumbency factor has been cited as one of the main reasons behind the electoral success of ZPM, the defeat of three-time Chief Minister Zoramthanga and the failure of his Mizo National Front (MNF) to hold on to power has shown that voters in Mizoram did not really consider the ethnic violence that has been going on in neighbouring Manipur for more than seven months between the Meetei/Meetei and the Kuki-Chin, one of their kindred tribes, as an important election issue.

Otherwise, Zoramthanga and his party would not have faced such a humiliating drubbing in the hands of ZPM, which is a relatively new political front of six regional parties, namely, Mizoram People's Conference, Zoram Nationalist Party, Zoram Exodus Movement, Zoram Decentralisation Front, Zoram Reformation Front, and Mizoram People's Party that came into existence only in 2017.

From winning just 8 seats out of the total 40 in the last assembly election to surpassing the mandatory halfway mark by securing 27 seats this time, it has been a phenomenal rise for ZPM as a new regional party to be able to oust MNF and show the door to Zoramthanga.

The credit for this should go definitely to Lalduhoma, a former IPS officer, MLA, and ex-Member of Parliament, who brought together the six regional parties and made them formidable forces under the common banner of Zoram People's Movement (ZPM) so as to bring about a political transformation in Mizoram.

However, even if the crushing defeat of MNF and its supremo Zoramthanga is being celebrated in Manipur with a vengeance, the success of ZPM and its architect Lalduhoma, who would soon be sworn in as the new Chief Minister of Mizoram is no guarantee of an improving relationship between Manipur and Mizoram.

Lalduhoma is no different from Zoramthanga when it comes to the question of 'Zo unification' or establishing a homeland for the Zo ethnic tribes, a contentious issue that has led to burning of Manipur for more than seven months now.

This is a bitter truth that the people of Manipur need to realise and be wary of.