Ruling Congress to field many young faces, confident of retaining power in Mizoram

The ruling Congress in Mizoram said it is fielding many young faces and is confident of winning the state Assembly elections scheduled November 28 and retaining power for the third term.

Wednesday saw the exit of two senior MLAs from the Congress party, but AICC general secretary in-charge of Northeast Luizinho Faleiro said it would not affect the party’s prospects in the election. He said that people of Mizoram have faith in the leadership of Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla.

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“With 32 MLAs, I am confident that we will win with comfortable majority to form the government for a third consecutive term. People of Mizoram have not lost faith in the leadership of Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla,” Faleiro was quoted as saying by PTI.

Two MLAs might have left, but hundreds of others are joining the party in Mizoram, Faleiro told reporters.

Mizoram is the only Congress bastion in the northeastern region now, having lost to the BJP in Manipur and Assam in the last elections. The Congress has been in power in the state since 2008. This time, it is in a poll battle with parties such as the Mizo National Front (MNF) and the Mizo Peoples Conference (MPC).

Home Minister R Lalzirliana, who was vice-president of the state Congress, resigned on September 14. Three days before, he was served a show-cause notice by the MPCC disciplinary committee accusing him of confusing party workers. He was expelled later.

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Earlier, another MLA Lalrinliana Sailo quit the Congress party. Both the leaders were likely to be fielded by the opposition Mizo National Front, according to reports.

Faleiro, former Goa chief minister, said the Congress would field many young faces in the coming election.

“At least 40 per cent of the young candidates would be below the age of 40,” he said.

The party leadership wants to rid some MLAs who are too old to contest or may struggle to win, while ensuring that those left out are not many so as to form a rebel lobby, a senior state leader has said, according to a PTI report.

The election for the 40-member Mizoram Assembly will be held on November 28 and counting of votes will be carried out on December 11.