Battle lines drawn for CADC polls

AIZAWL: The battle lines have been drawn for the election to the 20-member Chakma Autonomous District Council (CADC) in southern Mizoram's Lawngtlai district with the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF), Congress and the BJP having announced the names of their candidates.
The election will be held on May 9, while the counting of votes will be undertaken on March 11.
The MNF, Congress and BJP will be contesting all the 20 seats, while the Zoram People's Movement (ZPM) has decided to contest nine seats.
The ZPM, formed in 2017 by merging the then Zoram Nationalist Party and the People's Conference and other small pressure groups by Zoram Exodus Movement, bagged eight seats in the last state polls in 2018.
Though it was the first-ever election faced by the ZPM, it did better than Congress which had ruled the state for 23 years as the latter managed to secure only five seats.
However, the ZPM is yet to open an account in the CADC election as it is the first time it will be contesting the council polls.
The CADC has been under governor's rule since last December 16 as "there could not be political stability" despite the fact that all the 20 members of district council (MDCs) belonged to the MNF due to a large number of elected MDCs vying constantly for the post of the chief executive member.
Instability in the CADC government had begun a few months after the election to the 20-member CADC held in April 2018 witnessed a hung council.
BJP, which won five seats, decided to form the government with the Congress (its arch rival at the Centre), which bagged seven seats, rather than NDA ally MNF having eight MDCs.