The issue of liquor prohibition could form the basis of a swing vote against the incumbent Congress in Mizoram. All political parties have liquor on their manifestos, be it to abstain or to indulge mildly or just go rui chhia (damn drunk).
In the poll bound state, the Congress holds 34 seats, the MNF 5 out of 40 assembly seats and the two parties have ruled for 31 years since Mizoram became the twenty-third state of India in 1986. In this assembly election, the BJP will contest 39 out of the 40 seats.
While the Congress is for selective prohibition, the MNF has made an absolute ban on the sale and consumption of liquor its pet electoral issue. The BJP, on the other hand, has taken the middle path, understanding the concerns of the Church as well as the inclination of the youth. The State BJP president has asserted that it is not for importing Indian made foreign liquor (IMFL) but it will allow locally produced liquor, support local products and promote their export.
The state had been a dry state for 17 years after the Mizoram Liquor Total Prohibition Act, 1995 was introduced by the current Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla who was in his third term of office at the time. In 2014, Thanhawla repealed it and passed the Mizoram Liquor Prohibition and Control Act. The CM had admitted that the total ban had failed and a partial ban was needed. But this drew flak from Church bodies and the powerful Presbyterian Church. The dominant sect in the Christian majority state organised mass prayers across the state in a form of protest. The Church, perceived as a guardian authority in Mizoram, has repeatedly demanded for a complete ban on liquor. Zoramthanga, former Chief Minister from the MNF, has claimed that some 500 policemen and another 6500-7000 have died at a young age due to excessive drinking, since 2015. The Narcotics and Excise Department records point that while 57 people have died from 1997 to 2014, 9 have died in 2015, 22 in 2016 and 59 in 2017 clearly showing an increasing trend in deaths connected to liquor consumption after the MLPC Act. Zoramthanga echoes that it is a huge cause for concern for parents and wives, while another leader of his party explained why number of male voters are less than female voters (by 19,189) in this 2018 election, “because men are dying” calling it a “peculiar situation”. In 2007 the MNF had amended the MLTP to allow wine to be made locally from guavas and grapes with restrictions on volume/volume of alcohol content and the volume possessed.
Currently, under the MLPC Act, a permit may be a issued to men and women above 21 years of age, who can use the card to purchase upto six 750 ml bottles of IMFL, ten bottles each of beer and wine for their “personal bonafide consumption”. There are around thirty wine shops and 2 bars that sprouted up after the relaxation. Nonetheless, the black market also very well exists. Picketing by church members has caused at least one vendor to quit the business.
While tax revenues have shot up, concerns about alcohol’s role as a gateway drug have been aggravated. The ever increasing demand for alcohol has also been an opportunity of the neighboring Chin state of Myanmar. Ethanol is smuggled into Mizoram from Chin for making a low quality spirit. Mizoram has also fallen prey to methamphetamine and heroine smuggled from mostly Myanmar. The church organisations have regularly held awareness campaigns over the prevalence of drug use in state.
The Church’s role in the state with 90% literacy rate is highly magnified. It has played the role of peacemaker since the insurgency laden days of Mizoram. The Church leaders had persuaded Pu Laldenga of the then insurgent MNF to return to the mainstream. The Mizo Accord was signed with MNF in 1986 by late PM Rajiv Gandhi, heralding a new era of prolonged peace in the state. Since then the highly influential Church has continued to be perceived as a custodian of peace and has great influence in Mizo politics. For the Congress to alienate such a powerful authority might cost them dearly. Women members of the Baptist Church have in the past organised a fast for liquor ban. Concern among women for family and youth is amplified in this environment and given that there are more women voters in this election than men, female voters may form the deciding factor for a swing vote against the Congress in Mizoram.