Campaigning for the November 25 elections to the 40-member Mizoram Assembly ended on Saturday.
The ruling Congress made the New Land Use Policy its main poll plank and vowed to continue the programme if it was voted back to power. The Congress roped in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, party president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi for campaigning.
The Mizroam Democratic Alliance (MDA) of the three Opposition parties —the Mizo National Front (MNF), the Mizoram People’s Conference (MPC) and the Maraland Democratic Front (MDF) — promised the voters a special economic development programme. The coalition also made poor roads, shortage in power supply and “corruption” in government departments, reunification of the Mizo-inhabited areas into one administrative unit its poll planks.
In all, 142 candidates are in the fray, whose fate will be sealed on Monday by 6.86 lakh voters, including 3.49 lakh women. The Congress is contesting in all 40 seats. The MNF is contesting in 31, the MPC in eight and the MDF in one. The Zoram Nationalist Party is contesting in 38 seats.
