The counting of votes polled in the Mizoram assembly elections began at 8am on Monday across 13 centres in the north-eastern state. Postal ballots and votes cast at home, a facility for senior and specially-abled voters, were being counted first. Votes polled in electronic voting machines will be counted afterwards.
As many as 80.66% of the 857000 voters voted in the polls held in the state on November 7. “There are 40 counting halls. Around 4000 counting and other support staff would be on duty. To ensure security, 10 companies of central armed police forces and around 2000 personnel from Mizoram Police would also be engaged,” chief electoral officer Madhup Vyas said on Sunday.
Most exit polls predicted a tight contest between the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) and another regional party Zoram Peoples Movement (ZPM).
In 2018, MNF wrested power from the Congress by winning 26 seats. ZPM, which was formed a year earlier, won eight seats. The Congress bagged five seats and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) one in the Christian-majority state.
The MNF, ZPM, and Congress put up candidates for all seats. The BJP, which contested 39 seats five years ago, fielded 23 candidates. A total of 174 candidates, including 16 women—three from BJP, two each from Congress, MNF, and ZPM —contested the polls. The outgoing assembly had no women lawmakers.
The Congress and MNF have held power since the formation of the state in 1987.
The counting of votes was earlier scheduled for Sunday along with Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Telangana. The Election Commission of India on November 29 deferred the counting to Monday following appeals for it given the significance of Sunday for the people in the Christian-majority state.
The BJP on Sunday wrested power from the Congress in the Hindi heartland states of Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh while retaining it in Madhya Pradesh. The Congress managed to win in the southern state of Telangana months before the national polls.
