Politics / Mizoram

AIZAWL, Dec 5 ? From remaining underground for 20 years to joining Indian politics to become Mizoram chief minister for the second time, Zoramthanga has completed a cycle which politicians in the country rarely do. Regarded as one of the best marksmen during his days of militancy, the dimunitive and suave Mizo National Front (MNF) chief is also one of the highly educated persons of the state.

He was born on July 13, 1944 in Samthang village, from where Zoramthanga?s family moved to Champhai in 1960, the constituency, where he fought and won a battle royal with his long political opponent and...

Aizawl, Dec. 5: Mizoram chief minister Zoramthanga, who was sworn in for his second term in office yesterday, has said that his government will concentrate on the twin issues of development and peace. The chief ministerwas quite upbeat over the fact that his party had been given the people?s mandate again and said his government would continue the development work it had started.

Asked about the time limit he had set himself for completion of the development programmes, Zoramthanga said it would depend on the individual projects. ?Some of the projects could be completed by the end of this term...

AIZAWL, Dec 5?A 13-member two-tier Mizo National Front Ministry, headed by Chief Minister Zoramthanga, was sworn in for a second consecutive term last evening after opposition protestors smashed the panes of his car and blocked all roads leading to Raj Bhavan, delaying the ceremony by seven hours, reports PTI.

Eight of the ministers were of cabinet rank, and but for a new entrant, the others had been part of the earlier ministry. The swearing ceremony, originally scheduled for 11:00 am, finally took place at 6:00 pm after the opposition which called a dawn-to-dusk bandh to protest the arrest...

Aizawl/Silchar, Dec. 4: Mizoram chief minister Zoramthanga today stepped into his second term in office amid high drama, beginning with a mob attack on his convoy while it was proceeding to Raj Bhavan for the swearing-in ceremony. The chief minister?s car was waylaid and pelted with stones at Treasury Square, forcing him to beat a hasty retreat. The windshield and a portion of the vehicle?s roof were damaged, but Zoramthanga escaped unhurt.

The chief minister did not come out of his residence at Macdonald Hill again until an agreement was reached with the protesters, who were demanding the...

AIZAWL, Dec 3 ? Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga, whose party the Mizo National Front (MNF) secured an absolute majority in the assembly polls winning 21 seats, is likely to be sworn-in along with his Council of Ministers on December four, Raj Bhavan sources told PTI. Zoramthanga, who on Tuesday submitted his Government?s resignation to Governor A R Kohli, said the MNF Legislature Party would elect its leader within the next 24 hours.

Though the MNF could form the government on its own, Zoramthanga said, ?there was still place for like-minded parties? in his ministry. The MNF, which had...

AIZAWL, Dec 2: The ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) today secured a simple majority by winning 21 seats in the 40-member Mizoram Assembly, while the Congress secured 12 out of 38 results declared so far today, reports PTI. Only one more result is yet to be declared. Counting for the Suangpuilawl constituency, which witnessed kidnapping of three candidates in the November 20 election, was not taken up as the Election Commission was yet to take a decision. Chief Minister Zoramthanga was returned victorious from both Champai and Kolasih constituencies.

At Champai on the Mizoram-Myanmar border...

Silchar, Dec. 1: Speculation about possible political combinations in the event of the Mizoram poll producing a hung Assembly intensified today with less than 24 hours to go for counting of votes to begin. It has been a long wait for the electorate and political establishment alike to know the outcome of the poll, which was conducted on November 20.

Chief electoral officer Lalmalsawma said votes would be counted at 12 centres located in the headquarters of the eight districts. Lalmalsawma hoped the results of the elections to all 40 seats would be declared by late afternoon.

Electronic voting...

NEW DELHI, June 4 ? After its maiden foray into the Nagaland Assembly in the last elections, BJP is now planning to make a breakthrough in the pre-dominantly Christian north-eastern State of Mizoram, which goes to poll later this year, reports PTI. Party vice-president Pyarelal Khandelwal, who visited the State recently, Tuesday briefed BJP chief Venkaiah Naidu about this talks with several State leaders on the possibility of a pre-poll alliance.

While the party does not have a foothold in Mizoram, it is keen to ?open account? in the sensitive border State as part of its social and political...

Silchar, June 6: Bru refugees displaced from Mizoram after ethnic riots and settled in relief camps in North Tripura since November 1997, have demanded the Centre?s intervention to resolve their repatriation problem.

Bruno Msha, president of the Mizoram Bru Refugee Committee, said here recently that it was high time the Centre intervened to resolve the impasse. He said more than 3,600 refugees have died of various diseases in the camps in the past six years.

He regretted that since the last round of talks between the Bru refugee leaders and the Mizoram government in 2001, no major initiative...

New Delhi, June 2: Bangladesh?s history may have taken a slightly different turn had the Mizo National Front (MNF) carried out its decision to execute former President and dictator Zia-ur Rahman.

The Mizo National Front (MNF) was in hiding in then East Pakistan and was mulling over the pros and cons of the war of liberation as it would have entailed installation of a pro-India government and elimination of all camps. The MNF was allowed to set up camps in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of East Pakistan with the active support of Islamabad. The outfit?s sympathies lay with West Pakistan.

MNF...