74% turnout in Mizoram’s Lai council polls

The elections to the Lai Autonomous District Council (LADC) in Mizoram registered a turnout of 74.11% on Friday.

The BJP hopes to retain the 25-member council that it got on a platter when most of the elected Congress members switched over in October.

District electoral officials said the voting percentage would increase after reports from 17 remote polling stations that remained open well past sunset for people to exercise their franchise. Villagers need to cross rivers, jungles and hills to access some of these polling stations, officials said.

“A majority of a total of 51,456 voters across the LADC cast their votes to elect their representatives in 25 council seats. There are 69 candidates in the fray, most of them locked in a straight fight,” a district information officer said.

Only two of the seats have a maximum of five candidates each.

Unlike in the past, the BJP had focussed its energy on the LADC poll in a bid to retain it. The party took over the council in October – two months before the end of the term – when most of the Congress members crossed over.

Main rival

The BJP’s main rival is the Mizo National Front that rules Mizoram.

The counting of votes is on December 8.