Mizoram Assembly Election 2018

Mizoram voted MNF in power with a resounding majority. The MNF won 26 seats while the Congress, which had been in the saddle, could manage only 5 seats.

Mizoram Assembly Election 2018, on all the 40 Vidhan Sabha constituencies, was held in a single phase on November 28, 2018. The counting of the votes polled in the Mizoram Assembly Election 2018 took place on December 11, along with other four states. The Assembly Election 2018 schedule was declared on October 6 and the model code of conduct came into force soon after the announcement by the Election Commission (EC).

VVPAT machines were used during the polling process on November 28. The main parties contesting in the Mizoram Assembly Election 2018 were the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Congress party, National People's Party (NPP), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Mizo National Front (MNF). The tenure of 40-member Assembly in Mizoram, the only Congress-ruled state in the northeast, expires on December 15.

Poll Events                                                           Schedule

Date of Issue of Gazette Notification                  02.11.2018 (FRIDAY)

Last Date of Nominations                                  09.11.2018 (FRIDAY)

Date for Scrutiny of Nominations                       12.11.2018 (MONDAY)

Last Date for Withdrawal of candidatures           14.11.2018 (WEDNESDAY)

Date of Poll                                                    28.11.2018 (WEDNESDAY)

Date of Counting                                            11.12.2018 (TUESDAY)

Date before which election shall be completed   13.12.2018 (THURSDAY)

The ruling Congress, the Opposition MNF and the BJP had fielded candidates in all the 40 constituencies. Zoram People's Movement (ZPM) contested 35 of the 40 seats. Another small party PRISM fielded 15 nominees.

The Congress party had released its poll manifesto for Mizoram on November 1. In its manifesto, released by Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla, the Congress promised to provide free laptops to students who have cleared Class 10 and above if it returns to power in the state. Apart from this, the party also pledged to continue with its two flagship programmes for farmers and youths.

Three weeks ahead of the Assembly elections in the state, senior Congress leader Hiphei resigned as speaker of the Legislative Assembly, accusing the grand-old party of not contesting him as a candidate in the polls. The Congress had earlier named Hiphhei as its candidate for the Palak constituency but replaced him with party general secretary KT Rokhaw following reports that he might move to the BJP. 

The Congress party lost another leader ahead of the assembly polls. On October 22, Congress MLA Hmingdailova Khiangte resigned from the membership of the Mizoram house becoming the fourth legislator of the ruling party to do so ahead of the November 28 state assembly poll.