ZPM chief and party's CM candidate for Mizoram Lalduhoma
Credit: PTI Photo
Guwahati: With regional Zoram People's Movement (ZPM), storming to power for the first time in Mizoram, the party chief and former IPS officer Lalduhoma is set to be the state's first non-MNF, non-Congress chief minister.
The 73-year-old IPS-officer-turned politician, Lalduhoma is likely to meet Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati at Raj Bhavan at Aizawl on Tuesday and stake his claim to form the new government.
As an IPS officer, Lalduhoma had served as security in-charge of Indira Gandhi and the former Prime Minister's political acumen perhaps motivated him to take a plunge into politics. Lalduhoma quit his job to join Congress and was elected from Mizoram's lone Lok Sabha seat in 1984.
A BA from North East Hill University, Shillong, Lalduhoma quit Congress and joined MNF briefly when the Mizo Accord was signed in 1986 after the 20-year-long Mizo Insurgency led by MNF leader Laldenga.
Lalduhoma, however, split from MNF and formed Zoram Nationalist Party (ZNP) and was elected as an MLA in 2003 polls, when Congress formed the government for the second term. He formed ZPM ahead of 2018 Assembly polls but the ZPM candidates including Lalduhoma had to contest the polls as Independent candidates as the party did not get EC's recognition. ZPM candidates won in seven seat storming past Congress which was relegated to the third spot with just five seats.
Lalduhoma won from both Aizawl West-I and Serchhip constituencies. In Serchhip, he defeated CM and veteran Congress leader Lal Thanhawla.
But in 2020, Lalduhoma was disqualified under anti-defection law as he was found serving as ZPM president despite being elected as an Independent candidate. In the bypolls in 2021, Lalduhoma was re-elected to the assembly.
Lalduhoma's party's winning streak continued in the Municipal Elections of Lunglei, Mizoram's second biggest town and in the village council polls in the run-up to the assembly elections.
With time, Lalduhoma evolved himself as a Mizo regional leader against CM Zoramthanga, who consistently tried to project himself as the champion of Mizo nationalism by providing shelter to the Chin-Kuki refugees from neighbouring Myanmar, Bangladesh and Manipur. Mizos share ethnic ties with the Chin-Kukis. Lalduhoma, however, countered Zoramthanga's claim saying the same would not help MNF alone as all parties in Mizoram stood strongly behind the Kuki-Zo victims.
Promise of new system
Lalduhoma's campaigns centred around providing a corruption-free government and a new system, which according to observers, hit the right chord of the Mizo voters. Lalduhoma said fighting corruption would be the main plank of his party as people are fed up with the "large scale corruption" during the reigns of Congress and MNF, the two parties which remained in power since Mizoram attained statehood in 1987. Lalduhoma also reached out to the young voters by fielding nearly half of ZPM candidates, aged below 50.
"Working for the farmers and fighting corruption is going to be our main agenda. We will announce a 100-day action plan soon after assuming office," Lalduhoma told reporters after the results.