Mizoram Vidhan Sabha polls: Results from 2008 and 2013 show minor difference in vote share between Congress, MNF

The polls in Mizoram on 28 November will see 209 candidates fight it out for the 40 Vidhan Sabha seats. While the Congress and the Mizo National Front (MNF) have fielded 40 candidates each, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has nominated 39 candidates.

Like the previous elections, women voters, once again, outnumber the men in Mizoram. In the electorate of 768,181 voters, 393,685 are women and 374,496 are men.

Here's a look at how the people of Mizoram voted in the last two Vidhan Sabha elections:

Party-wise seat share

The Congress, which is currently battling anti-incumbency and infighting in Mizoram, has ruled the state for a decade now. In the 2013 election, the Congress won 34 of the 40 seats in the Assembly. The MNF, which had fielded candidates from 31 constituencies, had bagged five seats, and the Mizoram People's Conference (MPC) got one.

In the 2008 election, the Congress won 32 seats, while the MNF won only three, the MPC won two , the Zoram Nationalist Party (ZNP) won two, and the Maraland Democratic Front (MDF) bagged one.

In the seven elections held since Mizoram was formed, the BJP has never won a single seat.

Party-wise vote share

With the MNF vying for a comeback in the 28 November election, one can expect a neck-and-neck contest between the regional party and Congress. If we look at the past two elections, the Congress got hold of the highest number of seats in state Assembly, but the difference in the vote shares between the two was not much. While 2,55,917 voters (44.63 percent of the total) across constituencies voted for the Congress in 2013, the MNF got 1,64,305 votes (28.65 percent) overall.

In 2008, the margin was even smaller —  the Congress had captured a total of 1,95,614 (38.89 percent) votes, while the MNF had secured a total of 1,54,132 votes (30.65 percent). Mizoram saw a decent voter turnout in the previous two elections. In 2008, the state recorded a turnout of 82.35 percent, which rose marginally to 83.41 percent in 2013.

While it may be a small state, the election assumes significance in Mizoram since it is the only northeastern state under Congress rule.

If the Congress wins once again, Lal Thanhawla is likely to return as the chief minister for a third term and hold the party's fort in the region. In the event of an MNF victory, there is also a likelihood of the BJP getting into a post-poll alliance with the party to be part of the state government.

With inputs from agencies