Rahul Gandhi accuses Mizoram parties of furthering RSS-BJP’s interests

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday accused Mizoram’s ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) and Opposition Zoram Peoples Movement (ZPM) of furthering the interests of and being the entry points of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its ideological fountainhead, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to the Christian-majority northeastern state.

“...MNF [which is part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance at the Centre] is directly linked to BJP... ZPM has said it will work with the BJP. Both these parties are entry points for the BJP and RSS in Mizoram,” said Gandhi at a press conference in Aizawl on the second day of his two-day visit to election-bound Mizoram.

Gandhi said the BJP and the RSS were trying to spread an authoritarian and centralised system. He added that Congress opposes their ideology. Gandhi said the Congress believes that all religions and cultures must be protected. “That is also what our alliance INDIA [Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance] believes in. It is important to realise that our alliance represents 60% of India.”

Gandhi said they represent more people than the BJP. He referred to the RSS and said the larger question was whether it would control Mizoram. “We oppose them and will fight them tooth and nail. People of Mizoram know that and that is why I am confident the Congress will form the next government in Mizoram.”

The Congress lost power to the MNF in its last bastion in the northeast in 2018 and managed to get just five seats in the 40-member assembly. MNF won 26 seats, ZPM eight, and the BJP one.

Gandhi’s visit to the poll-bound state is the first by a top Congress leader following last week’s announcement of assembly polls on November 7.

He highlighted social security schemes in Congress-ruled Rajasthan and Karnataka and added they believe in testing them at the state level. Gandhi added they will implement them across the country when it comes to power at the Centre next year. “For Mizoram, we have plans such as ₹2000 as an old-age pension, LPG gas cylinders at ₹750, and economic empowerment schemes for entrepreneurs and people who have struggled,” said Gandhi, who was due to depart for Delhi via Agartala after addressing a public meeting in Lunglei.

On Monday, Gandhi hit out at the MNF, saying drugs were rampant in the state and had led to the deaths of 250 young people. He said the MNF government provided just 2,000 jobs in five years while roads and infrastructure in Mizoram were in shambles.

Gandhi accused the MNF of being in cahoots with the BJP while underlining his party’s “good record of governance and development” and pledging to protect the poll-bound state’s culture, tradition and religion.

The MNF is part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance at the Centre and in Mizoram. The BJP is not part of the MNF government in Mizoram.

Gandhi, who addressed a gathering after starting his poll campaign with a march from to the governor’s residence in Aizawl on Monday, spoke about his visit to neighbouring ethnic violence-hit Manipur and accused the BJP-led government of failing to address the issue. He said there were similar issues in other parts of the country as well and that minorities, tribals, and Dalits were feeling “uncomfortable” under the BJP rule while calling it an attack on the idea of India.

Mizoram is the smallest of the five states going to the polls next month. The elections encapsulate the country’s diversity—from Rajasthan in the north to Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in central India, Telangana in the south and Mizoram in the northeast. They are also the first major polls since 26 Opposition parties formed the INDIA bloc in July to take on the BJP in the 2024 elections. The ruling MNF and the Congress have dominated politics in Mizoram. The Congress was in power from 2008 to 2018.