Mizo National Front
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The Mizo National Front ( MNF) is a regional
political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...
in
Mizoram Mizoram is a states and union territories of India, state in northeastern India, with Aizawl as its Capital city, capital and largest city. It shares 722-kilometres (449 miles) of international borders with Bangladesh to the west, and Myanmar t ...
,
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
. MNF emerged from the Mizo National Famine Front, which was formed by Pu Laldenga to protest against the inaction of the
Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...
towards the famine situation in the Mizo areas of the
Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...
state in 1959. It staged a major uprising in 1966, followed by years of underground activities. In 1986, it signed the Mizoram Accord with the Government of India, renouncing secession and violence. The MNF then began contesting elections and has formed state government in Mizoram three times. It is currently the state's opposition party, with its president,
Zoramthanga Zoramthanga (born 13 July 1944) is an Indian politician and former Chief Minister of Mizoram from 1998 to 2008 and 2018 to 2023. He is also the president of Mizo National Front (MNF) party. He represents the Aizawl East I constituency in the ...
, as the Former Chief Minister of Mizoram.


Origin

In 1958, the Mizo Hills were devastated by the Mautam, a cyclic phenomenon where the flowering of bamboo plants result in a plague of crop-eating rats, in turn causing a famine. Earlier in 1955, Mizo Cultural Society was formed, with Laldenga as its secretary. In March 1960, the name of the Mizo Cultural Society was changed to 'Mautam Front'. During the famine of 1959–1960, this society took lead in demanding relief and attracted the attention of all sections of the people. In September 1960, the Society adopted the name Mizo National Famine Front (MNFF). The MNFF gained considerable popularity as a large number of Mizo Youth assisted in transporting rice and other essential commodities to interior villages.


Underground movement

The MNFF, which was originally formed to help ease the immense sufferings of the people during the severe Mautam Famine in Mizoram, was converted into Mizo National Front (MNF) on 22 October 1961. The first OB leaders elected were, President Laldenga, Vice President JF Manliana, General Secy. R. Vanlawma, and Treasurer Rochhinga and the ways in which the Indian authority of the day handled the famine left the people disillusioned. The wave of secessionist and armed insurrection was running high among the Mizos. In 1966, MNF led a major uprising against the government, but failed to gain administrative control of the Mizo district. The secessionist movement held on for about two decades. During that time, they invaded
Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...
claiming Chin State and Tahan belong to Mizoram since most of the resident in Tahan are Mizo.


Peace settlement

This chapter of insurgency finally came to a close with the signing of the Mizoram Accord on 30 June 1986 between the underground government of the Mizo National Front and the Government of India. Under the terms of the peace accord, Mizoram was granted statehood in February 1987.


Political party

In the resulting election, the Congress won, and the MNF would be in opposition until 1998. In 1990, Laldenga died, and was replaced by his former secretary and Finance Minister,
Zoramthanga Zoramthanga (born 13 July 1944) is an Indian politician and former Chief Minister of Mizoram from 1998 to 2008 and 2018 to 2023. He is also the president of Mizo National Front (MNF) party. He represents the Aizawl East I constituency in the ...
. In 1998 and 2003 MNF won the state assembly elections, and Zoramthanga was chief minister for 10 years. In the 2003 elections MNF won 21 out of 40 seats in the state assembly, and got 132 505 votes (31.66%). The party was routed by the Congress in the 2008 state election, winning just 3 seats. It contested the 2013 state elections in alliance with the Mizoram People's Conference, and won 5 seats to the Congress's 34. In the 2018 state assembly elections, the MNF won 26 seats and returned to government. The party lost power to the Zoram People's Movement during the 2023 state assembly elections.


Role in the national elections

For the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, it formed an alliance called United Democratic Front with seven other parties including BJP, to contest the only seat in Mizoram. The MNF has been part of the National Democratic Alliance since 2014till 2023.


Election results


Mizoram Legislative Assembly


List of Chief Ministers


Current Party Officers

As of the latest party election in 2019, the officers are:


See also

* Mizoram People's Conference * Zoram Nationalist Party * Zoram People's Movement *
Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...
* Political parties in Mizoram *
List of political parties in India India has a multi-party system. The Election Commission of India (ECI) grants recognition to national-level and state-level political parties based on objective criteria. A recognised political party enjoys privileges such as a reserved party ...


References


External links


Peace Accord 1986


(archived 6 August 2004)
Mizo National Front campaign song recorded 1993
(video on
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) {{Authority control Political parties in Mizoram Political parties established in 1961 1961 establishments in Assam