The Mara Autonomous District Council (MADC) is one of the three autonomous councils in Mizoram, the other two being the Chakma Autonomous District Council and the Lai Autonomous district council. The MADC will be holding its elections on May 5. The MADC rarely makes it to the news on the regional or national platform. So, with elections just a week away, EastMojo has compiled an explainer to help our readers understand the Council, its people and the significance of these elections.
What are the origins of the MADC?
Before we go any further, it may be important to note that the Siaha district, one of the 11 districts in Mizoram, is the capital of the MADC.
Back when the state of Mizoram was known as ‘Lushai Hills,’ Siaha, now the capital of MADC, was ruled by a chief. Then, the hills had hereditary chiefs, with each chief ruling over one or more villages. When the Mizo Hills became a part of British India, the North Lushai Hills were put under the ambit of the state of Assam, while the South Lushai Hills, where the MADC areas lie, were put under the government of Bengal. In 1898, control over South Lushai Hills was transferred to the state of Assam. The current MADC capital, Siaha, came under the Pawi-Lakher regional council, a Regional Council for Autonomous Regions constituted on April 23, 1953.
In 1971, when Mizoram became a Union territory, it was divided into three districts, one of which was the Chhimtuipui district with Siaha as the capital. Seeing further developments, the Pawi–Lakher Autonomous Regional Council was dissolved in 1972 and on April 29 of the same year, the Lakher, Pawi and Chakma Regional Councils were elevated to the status of District Council under paragraph 20-B of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India. Of these three regional councils, the Lakher Regional Council was renamed and became what we know today as the Mara Autonomous District Council.
Where is the MADC area and who lives there?
The Mara Autonomous District Council is located on the Southern tip of Mizoram. It shares a 159-km long international boundary with Myanmar. It is surrounded by a picturesque river called Kolodyne on three sides. It covers 1445 square km and occupies 6.67% of the state. It is twice the size of Mizoram’s capital city Aizawl. MADC comprises the tribes of Mara, Lai and Mizo, of which the predominant tribe are the Mara. The Mara have their distinct language. Despite ethnic and language differences, the Maras share a strong brotherhood with the Mizos (Lusei) and live as one tribe in the state.
However, as a result of their strong ethnic roots, the majority of the Mara Christians belong to the Evangelical Church of Maraland. As per a census conducted in September 2015 by MADC, the population of MADC is 64, 829 out of which 32, 673 are male and 32, 156 are female. Out of the total population, 53, 929 are Mara, 7, 600 are Lai, 2,531 are Mizos, and there are 769 non-tribals. Siaha district is known to be one of the most backward districts in Mizoram. Over 80% of the population is directly or indirectly dependent on agriculture for their livelihood.
MADC elections
The district council has two assembly constituencies, 39-Siaha and 40-Palak. The Siaha MLA is Dr K Beichhua from the MNF party and the Palak constituency MLA is KT Rokhaw from the Indian National Congress party. It comprises two rural development blocks, Siaha RD Block, covering 36 village councils, and Tipa RD block, covering 41 village councils.
The elections coming up on May 5 is one to look out for considering the history of mergers and defections of the MADC in the past elections. PP Thawla is a notable name in the MADC. He is the founder and the former President of the Maraland Democratic Front, a regional party of the MADC. He contested successfully in the 2003 and 2008 assembly elections. The Maraland Democratic Front formed a coalition with the MNF in the 2012 election, but Congress won the majority. In 2017, Congress won 17 seats while an MNF- MDF merger only won seven seats. The BJP failed to win a single seat. However, in the same year, MDF broke its ties with the MNF and merged with the BJP. And then in June 2019, things took a surprising turn when all 20 Congress members defected to BJP with the MADC becoming a BJP ruled council. The BJP had only two members before the merger. The BJP formed the majority with 22 members in the 25 member council.
The main reason for its merger with the BJP has been attributed to the assurance given by the saffron party to amend the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution and provide for more autonomy and direct funding to ADCs which has been a long-standing demand.
In the upcoming elections, the MNF, the Congress and the BJP have announced their candidates for all 25 seats in the Council. ZPM, a party that was formed before the 2018 elections and saw major success in the urban areas will be contesting for the first time with eight candidates. While the BJP has spoken of a confident win, the question is raised as to how much of the demands of the ADCs had been met since its merger and if that will impact the elections.