Mad rush to file nominations for Mizoram council election

AIZAWL: Chaos reigned at the deputy commissioner's office in southernmost Mizoram's Siaha district headquarters - Siaha town - as all the candidates who wanted to contest the coming elections to the 25-member Mara Autonomous District Council (MADC) scheduled to be held on May 5, were gathering to file nominations on Wednesday, the last day for filing nominations, officials said.
The nominations could be filed from April 5 when the Mizoram state election commission (SEC) issued notification for the polls and subsequently by the returning officer the next day. But as the major political parties could not finalise their candidates on time, there was a mad rush to file nominations on the final day.
The BJP and the Zoram People's Movement (ZPM) managed to announce their candidates only on Wednesday. Contestants were allowed to submit their nomination papers before 3 pm, after which those would be sent for scrutiny conducted, probably on Wednesday night itself.
As on Wednesday at 3 pm, 83 candidates from four political parties have submitted their papers while the number of Independent candidates were yet to be ascertained.
Mizo National Front (MNF), now the ruling party in Mizoram, announced on Tuesday that the party would contest all the 25 seats in the coming election to the MADC, MNF vice-president and former Lok Sabha member Vanlalzawma said.
Congress fielded nominees in all the 23 seats and is supporting two Independent candidates, while the BJP, which has been ruling the MADC for the past two years, is contesting all the seats. Zoram People's Movement, which is contesting the MADC polls for the first time, has fielded eight candidates.
In the last general elections to the MADC held in 2017, the Congress won the polls by bagging 16 seats, followed by the MNF which won 6 seats while the Mara Democratic Front (MDF) won two seats and an Independent candidate won one. The MDF merged with the BJP on July 12, 2017 with the founder president of the party joining the MNF later.