AIZAWL, May 30 - With the Lok Sabha elections over, the Zoram People�s Movement today pulled out of the electoral alliance with the Congress with an apology to ZPM supporters across Mizoram who had disliked the tie-up.
ZPM chairman Lalliansawta told reporters here today that the main reason behind the ZPM forging an electoral alliance with the Congress was the Hindutva agenda that posed a serious threat to Christians in India.
�As the BJP leaders made it clear that they would renew the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill and introduce the Uniform Civil Code if their party was elected to power, the foundation of Christianity in India was shaken. The ruling party in Mizoram, which was expected to confront the threats, expressed its allegiance to the BJP-led NDA. In such a situation, there was public pressure on the Opposition parties in Mizoram to unite and take on the saffron force,� he said.
�The terms of agreement were made within a short time with no written agreement whatsoever. There were undoubtedly shortcomings in the electoral alliance as we learnt that some Opposition parties, which were interested in an all-Opposition alliance, were not included,� he said.
�We had agreed to forge an alliance as the Congress was willing to put aside its symbol and agreed to use a common symbol. The Congress, being a well-established party, bore most of the campaign expenses and we were deeply thankful to them. We also apologise to our supporters across Mizoram who wanted us to contest the elections single-handedly and who disapproved of our being part of an alliance with the Congress,� Lalliansawta said.
Now that the ZPM-Congress alliance lost the Lok Sabha seat to the Mizo National Front, the ZPM will remain a single party and contest future elections on its own with the objectives of forming a non-Congress and non-MNF Government in the State and local bodies, Lalliansawta said.
PRISM was supposed to be a part of the electoral alliance, but was dropped in the last minute, he said.
The PRISM candidate, TBC Lalvenhima, garnered 13,323 votes. ZPM-Congress candidate Lalnghinglova Hmar lost to MNF candidate C Lalrosanga by 8,240 votes.
