10 things to know about the Mizoram elections

1. Mizoram, also sometimes called the Blue Mountain state became the 23rd state of India in 1986. The first election of the Mizoram Legislative Assembly was held on 16 Feb. 1987. The state’s current population is 11.2 lakhs and it had 40 Assembly constituency seats up for grabs in the recent elections, while requiring 21 seats to stake claim to form a majority government.

2. Elections were held on Nov. 28 in a trilateral competition between the Mizo National Front (MNF), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the ruling Congress party. Around 201 candidates were in the fray.

3. Mizoram’s incumbent chief minister Lal Thanhawla’s dream of ruling for a third time came to an end today - as he lost in the two constituencies he contested.

4. Exit polls were correct in their predictions as the MNF, the frontrunner, has clinched the race.

5. The state witnessed a huge protest in the run-up to the elections. The state’s chief election officer S.B. Shashank was replaced by Ashish Kundra due to his ‘pro-Bru’ stance. Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla had also moved the PMO's office seeking removal of Shashank.

6. Besides the state's armed police, 40 companies of the Central Armed Police Force were deployed in the booths during polling. Polling was concluded peacefully with an 80% voter turnout.

7. Around 15 women contested elections in the state, the highest number of women candidates in an Assembly election in the state.

8. With these elections, the last Congress bastion in the northeast has fallen. The Congress has been in power in the state since 2008 when it seized power from the MNF.

9. The MNF is a part of the BJP’s association of regional parties - the North East Democratic Alliance. But both parties contested in the elections without a pre-poll alliance and it looks like the MNF will stake its claim to form the government with a clear majority,

10. Some key electoral issues of the state include prohibition, tribal rights, minority issues and unemployment.

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