Congress wins in Mizoram, set to form Govt. again

The Congress on Monday registered a landslide victory in the Mizoram assembly polls defeating the opposition Mizo National Front (MNF).

After the counting of votes, the tally stood with Congress winning 30 seats, while the Mizo National Front (MNF) could only manage 8 seats. The BJP and others could only get 1 seat each.

For the Congress, the results could be a much needed motivation, after it lost elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Delhi, whose results were declared on Sunday.

Earlier, Chief Minister Pu Lal Thanhawla of Congress defeated his nearest MNF candidate and former MLA Lalramzuava by a margin of 734 votes in the Serchhip reserved constituency.

Congress leader and Minister for Food and Civil Supplies H. Rohluna won the Lengteng reserved constituency defeating his nearest MDA candidate L. Thangmawia by a narrow margin of over 100 votes.

Counting of votes for the state, which went to polls on November 25, began this morning amidst tight security.

The Director General of Election Commission of India Ashish Srivastava, and several observers are in capital Aizawl to supervise the process.

The fate of 142 candidates, including six women will be decided today. The ruling Congress has contested all 40 seats, as has the Mizoram Democratic Alliance (MDA).

MDA constituent of MNF has contested in 31, Mizoram People's Conference (MPC) in eight and Maraland Democratic Front (MDF) contested in one seat.

The Zoram Nationalist Party (ZNP) fielded candidates in 38 seats, while the BJP has contested 17 seats.