Aizawl: Congress leader and former party president Rahul Gandhi on Monday arrived in Aizawl on a two-day visit to poll-bound Mizoram to campaign for the party. Mizoram Congress media cell president Lalremrutha Renthali said the Congress MPs reached Aizawl in a helicopter from Tripura capital Agartala.
The leader has started his campaign for the Assembly elections to be held on November 7 with a padyatra from Chanmari to Raj Bhavan in Aizawl. Rahul Gandhi said that my perception about Mizoram was formed when I was 16 years old when I came here with my father in 1986. The people of Mizoram are gentle, kind and affectionate.
Ranthlei said that Rahul Gandhi is going to leave for Delhi via Agartala by helicopter from Lunglei on Tuesday. Voting for the 40-seat Mizoram assembly will be held on November 7. The ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) and the main opposition Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) have already announced the names of their candidates for all the 40 seats. Congress may announce the names of candidates during Gandhi’s visit. BJP said it will release its list of candidates for the elections in the next two to three days. Political parties, churches, civil society organizations and student bodies have urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to reschedule the vote counting date as it falls on Sunday, a holy day for the state’s Christian community. According to the 2011 census, about 87 percent of Mizoram’s population is Christian.
