Liberal liquor policy, advent of the Zoram People's Movement (ZPM) and anti-incumbency factor were believed to be reasons due to which the Congress government in the Christian-majority Mizoram, the party's last bastion in the northeastern region, fell.
In the assembly election results declared on Tuesday, the Congress failed to break the 10-year-jinx and came a poor third behind the Mizo National Front (MNF), which won 26 seats and the ZPM, which won eight seats and is a new entrant in the state poll scenario.
The Congress managed to bag only five seats compared to the 34 it had won in the 2013 assembly elections.
Chief minister-designate Zoramthanga of the MNF on Wednesday said the people might have rejected the Lal Thanhawla regime for its liberal policy towards liquor as against the expressed will of the churches.
He has already announced that his government would impose total prohibition.
Outgoing chief minister Lal Thanhawla said his party's electoral setback might be due to the opening of liquor shops in the state in 2015, after a spell of prohibition for 20 years.
Though he stopped short of accusing the churches of campaigning against his government and the Congress, Thanhawla said, "Campaigning from the pulpit should be prohibited."
The powerful Presbyterian Church had organised mass prayers in all member churches across the state twice in 2014 against repeal of the prohibition.
Total prohibition was imposed in this highly-literate state since February 20, 1997 by the then Congress government. However, it was lifted in early 2015 by enforcing the Mizoram Liquor Prohibition and Control Act, 2014.
The ZPM, a conglomerate of two political parties and four groups, captured eight seats. Its nominees, contesting the polls as independents, bagged 22.9 per cent votes.
Congress spokesman Lallianchhunga said the ZPM harmed both his party and the MNF, but it eroded the vote bank of the Congress more than the MNF because of the anti-incumbency factor.
In the election held on November 28, the MNF garnered 37.6 per cent votes, while the Congress managed 30.2 per cent.
A strong anti-incumbency wave worked against the 10- year-old Congress regime, Zoramthanga further said.
The Congress and the MNF have been in the driver's seat at different times since 1987, when Mizoram became a full-fledged state, but none has so far been able to form governments thrice in a row.
The MNF had also ruled the state for 10 years between 1998 to 2008, and was defeated by the Congress thereafter.
Some quarters also cited another reason for the Congress' dismal performance—resignation of the assembly speaker, home minister and two former ministers.
The five-time chief minister denied any serious internal fighting in the party but admitted that some people campaigned against Congress candidates due to denial of party tickets.
The BJP opened its account with a solitary seat in this Christian majority state. It won from a constituency in the minority Chakma dominated area in southernmost Mizoram bordering Bangladesh. It garnered 8 per cent votes.
