BJP to Fight Mizoram Election Alone, May Go for Post-poll Alliance: Ram Madhav

Aizawl: The Bharatiya Janata Party would fight all the 40 assembly seats in Mizoram alone, but the party might forge an alliance with like-minded parties in a post-poll scenario, general secretary Ram Madhav said on Wednesday.

Mizoram is the only state under the Congress in the Northeast at present. The saffron party has been making concerted efforts to win the state, after having formed governments on its own or joining hands with allies in all other Northeastern states.

Addressing a press conference in Aizawl, Madhav, who is in charge of the Northeast, said the BJP would field candidates in all the 40 assembly seats in the state, where elections are due in December.

In the 2013 assembly poll, the Congress had won 34 seats and made Lal Thanhawala the chief minister, while the BJP has no MLA at present.

On the Opposition calling the Mizo National Front (MNF) "proxy" of the BJP, the general secretary termed it "ridiculous".

The party would contest against the MNF and the National People's Party in the polls, though they are constituents of North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), Madhav said.

The NEDA is a political coalition formed in 2016 by the BJP, along with Northeast regional parties like Naga People's Front, Sikkim Democratic Front, People's Party of Arunachal, Asom Gana Parishad and Bodoland People's Front.

Madhav asserted that the BJP "respected" the food habits, distinct cultural and customs of the Mizos and their religion.

He accused the ruling Congress, headed by Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla -- in power for 10 years -- of being corrupt and inefficient.

The Thanhawla regime did not create any basic infrastructural development during the last decade, though the Centre initiated and funded several developmental projects, the BJP leader said.

If voted to power, the BJP would construct a four-lane highway across the state, linking both Myanmar and Bangladesh, Madhav said. The proposed highway would ensure access to the international market and open the east-west corridor for trade.

He added that engineering colleges would be established at Lunglei and Champhai districts if the saffron party wins.