Mizoram elections: How the state Assembly came into being

After celebrating its 50th anniversary last year, Mizoram Assembly is set to go for polls this year on November 7. The 40-seat Assembly is currently being ruled by the Mizo National Front (MNF), who won the last polls in the state by a landslide.

MNF, the biggest party in the state right now, was once an insurgent group that was banned in 1967. At that time, there was no state called Mizoram and MNF wanted to carve it out as an independent sovereign state called Greater Mizoram.

Till then, Mizoram, which was part of an undivided Assam state, the Mizo regions were governed by The Lushai Hills Autonomous District Council that came into being in 1952.

While MNF, led by Laldenga, was keen on its demand for independence, other political forces wanted full statehood for the Mizos.

A Mizo District Council delegation, which met the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in May 1971, demanded a full fledged state for the Mizos. However, Centre offered to turn Mizo Hills into a Union Territory (UT) in July 1971. After much deliberation, Mizo groups agreed to settle for a UT on the condition that the Centre will act on the demand of full statehood sooner rather than later.

The Union Territory of Mizoram came into being on 21st January, 1972, and Mizoram got two seats in the Parliament, one each in the Lok Sabha and in the Rajya Sabha.

The first session of Mizoram Legislative Assembly was held on 10 May 1972 which marked the beginning of Mizoram Legislative Assembly. The first Assembly of Mizoram had 30 elected seats and 3 nominated seats.

The first Assembly election was won by the Mizo Union under the leadership of Pu Ch Chhunga and was later merged with the Indian National Congress. Pu H Thansanga, the first Speaker of Mizoram Legislative Assembly, vacated his office and Pu Vaivenga became the Speaker of Mizoram Legislative Assembly.

On June 30, 1986, MNF and the then ruling Congress government signed the historic Mizo Peace Accords ending the two-decade long insurgency in the state. MNF laid arms and the Indian government moved forward with the statehood procedures for Mizoram.

The State of Mizoram Act, 1986 granted Mizoram full statehood and the number of seats in the Assembly were increased from 30 to 40.

The first elections of a full-fledged Mizoram state were won by the MNF and Laldenga, the leader, was appointed as the Chief Minister. The current chief minister, Zoramthanga, used to be the second-in-command of Laldenga in the MNF during its years as the insurgent group.