by Bhupen Goswami (PNI)

Guwahati : Mizuram New Chief Minister Zoramthanga swearing in of the new cabinet would take place on Saturday ,The liquor issue turned the church and civil society .The Congress, which suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Mizo National Front (MNF) in Mizoram, will review its performance in the just-concluded assembly polls at a meeting on January 18, a party leader said Thursday. Rebel leader and two-time Chief Minister of Mizoram, 84-year-old Zoramthanga has led his party — the Mizo National Front (MNF) — to victory in the assembly elections. The MNF has bagged 26 of the 40 seats in the hill state. The ruling Congress could manage only five. The outgoing chief minister, Lal Thanhawla, has accepted his defeat and resigned after the results were announced. The MNF is back in power after 10 years and its victory is being considered an early Christmas by party workers. “I had predicted over 29 seats for MNF and less than 10 for Congress. My prediction has come true. Voters were fed up of the mismanagement of the Congress. The liquor issue also turned the church and civil society against them. Mizoram is a Christian state and we are a compact society so there is no space for BJP ideology,” MNF chief Zoramthanga told.Zoramthanga had served as the chief minister from December 1998 to December 2008. Exit polls that had indicated a hung assembly were also proved wrong and the old poll arithmetic of change of power every 10 years won. While Congress sees gains in three of the five states where polling was held, its last bastion in the northeast crumbled like a pack of cards. Five-time Chief Minister Lalthanhawla also lost both the seats he contested. The age-old party fell behind the newly floated Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) that won eight seats. The BJP opened its account with a lone seat from a non-Christian seat. “I don’t know what went wrong. I am disappointed. I think I underestimated the ZPM,” Lal Thanhawla told NDTV. 1 COMMENT Zoramthanga has already staked claim to form government and the swearing in of the new cabinet would take place on Saturday. A strong anti-incumbency wave worked against the 10- year-old Congress regime, Mr. Zoramthanga further said. Some quarters also cited another reason for the Congress’ dismal performance — resignation of the assembly speaker, home minister and two former ministers. Mr. Thanhawla denied any serious internal fighting in the party but admitted that some people campaigned against Congress candidates due to denial of party tickets. The Congress and the MNF have been in the driver’s seat at different times since 1987 when Mizoram became a full-fledged state, but none has so far been able to form governments thrice in a row. The MNF had also ruled the state for 10 years between 1998 to 2008, and was defeated by the Congress thereafter. The BJP opened its account with a solitary seat in this Christian majority state. It won from a constituency in the minority Chakma dominated area in southernmost Mizoram bordering Bangladesh. It garnered eight per cent votes.