MNF’s Lalthangliana wins Dampa bypoll

Aizawl: Mizo National Front (MNF) has emerged victorious in the Dampa assembly constituency by-election, with former minister and senior vice president of the party, R Lalthangliana, defeating the ruling Zoram People's Movement (ZPM) candidate, Vanlalsailova, by a margin of 562 votes.

The results were announced on Friday.Lalthangliana garnered 6,981 votes, while Vanlalsailova received 6,419 votes in the election, which took place on Nov 11. Indian National Congress (INC) candidate, former minister John Rotluangliana, secured 2,394 votes, and BJP nominee, Lalhmingthanga Sailo, obtained 1,541 votes. People’s Conference (PC) party candidate K Zahmingthanga received 50 votes.The vote share was distributed as follows: Lalthangliana with 40%, Vanlalsailova with 37%, John Rotluangliana with 14%, and Sailo with 9%.The by-election was necessitated by the passing of the sitting legislator, Lalrintluanga Sailo of MNF, on July 21. This marks the third instance in Mizoram’s political history where an opposition candidate has won a by-election. The first occurrence was in 1983, and the second in 2021 when the current chief minister, Lalduhoma, won the Serchhip constituency by-poll.Following the Dampa by-election results, the ruling ZPM maintains 27 legislators in the state legislative assembly, while MNF retains 10 seats.

BJP and the INC have two and one legislators, respectively.Political analysts have attributed ZPM’s performance in the Dampa bye-election to dissatisfaction with the govt’s performance under chief minister Lalduhoma, citing poor road conditions, including the Aizawl-Silchar National Highway 306, and increased service charges despite frequent disruptions.