MNF, ZPM instruments for BJP, RSS to enter Mizoram, says Rahul Gandhi

Rahul Gandhi said the BJP and RSS were trying to spread an authoritarian and centralised system

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.

Gandhi said the BJP and the RSS were trying to spread an authoritarian and centralised system. He added that Congress opposes their ideology.

He further said that 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 per cent of India."

Gandhi said they represent more people than the BJP. He referred to the RSS and said the more significant 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.

BJP calls Rahul Gandhi's state visit a blessing

Hitting out at Rahul Gandhi, who began his two-day campaign to poll-pound Mizoram, the state president of BJP called the Congress leader a "brand ambassador for BJP" and said that he is the best campaigner for the saffron party.

"Rahul Gandhi is a brand ambassador for BJP. He is the BJP's best campaigner we have in India. Whenever Rahul Gandhi campaigned, the BJP always had a good result in every election," BJP's Vanlalhmuaka was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

He also called Rahul Gandhi's visit a "blessing for the BJP Mizoram by this time."

"And that is what I expect. I wish that if he can stay longer, there will be a blessing for the Mizoram BJP," he added.