Mizoram polls 2023: BJP state unit dares Mizo National Front to leave NDA

The Mizoram unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) dared the state's ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) to leave the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) after Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga took a dig at his Manipur counterpart, N Biren Singh, according to a report by The Times of India (ToI). Elections for the Legislative Assembly in Mizoram are scheduled for later this year.

On July 31, on Instagram, Zoramthanga posted a photo of  Hangmuanlai Vaiphei, a 21-year-old Kuki-Zo youth. He died in police custody in Manipur following incidents of violence in the state. "Such incidents will not happen in Mizoram," he wrote on social media.

At a press conference in Aizawal on August 1, BJP Mizoram unit spokesperson K Laldinthara said that while some MNF leaders have been threatening to leave the NDA, they will not do so, and no one can form government in the state without the BJP.

Laldinthara was quoted as saying that Zoramthanga and other ministers have been talking about breaking ties with the NDA, but they will not dare to do so. The MNF leaders should not cheat the people of Mizoram with their threats.

Parties like the Zoram People's Movement (ZPM) and others are attempting to join the NDA, Laldinthara claimed.

The BJP spokesperson also said that whenever Union ministers would visit the state, the state ministers would make appeals for financial assistance. The MNF is pro-NDA in Delhi but is opposing the BJP in state politics, he added.

Mizoram is set to go to polls later this year. The MNF currently governs the state. In the 2018 assembly elections, MNF won 26 in the 40-seat assembly house, while the BJP won one.