Mizoram: 10 senior MPC leaders quit, join ZPM

Aizawl: A week after the Mizoram People’s Conference (MPC) severed ties with the newly-floated political party Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM), at least 10 senior MPC leaders, including newly elected party vice president Lalthansanga, quit the party and joined ZPM on Monday.

Three sitting MPC legislators also quit the party, ZPM sources said.

Lalthansanga announced their exit from MPC at a meeting in ZPM office in Aizawl on Monday. He said that although they were strong supporters of MPC founder president Brig Thenphunga Sailo and his policies, they decided to join the ZPM for the future of Mizoram.

MPC senior general secretary Phairothanga, who quit the party, also said that several MPC units in different parts of the state will soon merge with the ZPM.

Along with 10 senior MPC leaders, three sitting MPC legislators — VL Zaithanzama, A Sawivunga and Vanlalhlana — also resigned from being ex-officio executive members of MPC and joined ZPM, party sources said.

Internal squabbles and differences have been brewing within the MPC over the merger with ZPM after its president Lalhmangaiha Sailo refused to dissolve the party and fully merged with the ZPM.

Lalhmangaiha Sailo, who is the son of Thenphunga Sailo, was re-elected as MPC president recently. MPC was the constituent members of ZPM, an electoral alliance formed by six minor parties in 2017. The party had cut ties with the ZPM on July 20 after the alliance had merged into single political party.

Earlier, MPC treasurer and spokesperson V Lalthazuala had told reporters that the party has severed ties with ZPM following the alliance being registered as single political party.

“As long as the ZPM is a political party, MPC can’t become part of it as two political parties can’t exist together at the same time,” he had said.

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Lalthazuala had also said that the MPC is willing to be part of the ZPM if it continues to function as “grand alliance”.

The ZPM, which was formed by Zoram Nationalist Party (ZNP), MPC, Zoram Exodus Movement (ZEM), Mizoram People’s Party (MPP), Zoram Reformation Front (ZRF) and Zoram Democratic Front (ZDF). It had contested 35 seats in the state assembly poll in November last year and won eight seats with its chief ministerial candidate Lalduhoma bagging two seats — Serchhip and Aizawl West-I.

However, Laduhoma vacated Aizawl West-I seat to retain Serchhip.

The ZPM had got registration from Election Commission of India as single political party on July 3. The newly floated party now has seven legislators, including three from MPC, in the 40-member Mizoram assembly.