Aizawl, December 09 2008: Senior Congress leader Lal Thanhawla is all set to be the next Chief Minister of the tiny State as his party has stormed into power in Mizoram after a 10-year gap.

The Congress carved out its biggest victory in Mizoram after it attained Statehood in 1987, bagging 32 seats out of 40 and handing over one of the worst defeats to the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF).

The Congress legislature party is scheduled to meet tomorrow to formally elect 68-year-old Lal Thanhawla as their leader after the newly-elected MLAs reach the State Capital from far-flung areas after the declaration of results.

This will be the fourth time that Lal Thanhawla will assume charge as Chief Minister of the state after having three previous terms at the helm of the party.

The party sources said after the legislators declare Lal Thanhawla as their leader, they would stake claim to form Government before the State Governor Lt Gen MM Lakhera and the swearing-in could be held a day after.

Immediately after his victory, an elated Lal Thanhawla attributed his party's astounding success to the "rampant corruption" of the MNF Government which had "frustrated the people".

"The people have voted for a change and the Government will be development-oriented," he said, adding that his Government would give top priority to uplift the poor and marginal agrarian families, especially in the rural areas.

Talking to media, Lal Thanhawla said that the MNF Government had "neglected" the poor and the Congress would uplift the poor and downtrodden with the New Land Use Policy as envisaged in the party manifesto.

All Central programmes would be fully implemented to ensure that the schemes reached the target population, he said.

Meanwhile, the Congress may have made a historic come-back to Mizo politics by bagging a thumping two-third majority, but it is the church-backed Mizoram People's Forum (MPF) which called the shots in the just-held election in this tiny State.

Describing itself a social watchdog, the influential MPF comprising various social organisations and the Church had issued a 'diktat' to the political parties to keep electioneering at a low key which was religiously followed.

So much so, the fun and enthusiasm usually associated with election in this hill State, was missing thanks to the diktat and the set of "Thou shalt not...." directives issued by the MPF to 'ensure a free and fair election'.

Thanks to the diktat, there was no poll-related violence.

The forum's leaders also personally met representatives of various insurgent groups to convince them to stay away from the election process.

The Congress, however, seemed to have gained the most out of the MPF diktat which seemingly allowed central leaders to address rallies in the State.

A host of Congress leaders, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, AICC member Rahul Gandhi and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee openly held colourful rallies which attracted a huge crowd.

Asked to comment on the MPF diktat, victorious Congress leader Lal Thanhawla, who is all set to be the next Chief Minister, says, "I think our prayer has been answered by the God in the form of MPF".

The outgoing Chief Minister Zoramthanga too appreciated the role of the forum in reducing the use of money power.

He, however, admitted that the diktat took away the Constitutional rights of the political parties to reach out to the voters.

The Joint Secretary of the MNF, F Lalbiakzama, however, was more direct, attributing the fall of his party to what he called the MPF's 'unreasonable restrictions'.

"While PM's rally in Aizawl was a fanfare with Congress songs being sung by well-known singers, MPF did not allow us to play our patriotic songs anywhere which we had used to bring our flocks together in earlier elections," Lalbiakzama lamented.

After the job well done, the MPF is not willing to bask under glory with its General Secretary Lalbiakmawia Ngente saying the forum will continue with its policy of reforming the people and the political process.

The MPF role got an unexpected admirer with the Election Commission praising its role in the run-up to the election.

The commission's special observer, Debasis Sen, felt that other states should follow the MPF way.

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