Silchar, Oct. 27: The Mizoram Presbyterian Synod, the largest Christian congregation in the state, is now all set to re-enact its role as the poll watchdog and moral policeman. Over four lakh voters will exercise their franchise in the ninth Assembly election on November 20.

Like in the few past elections, the Synod has released a list of dos and don’ts for the electorate and all political parties, with a view to maintain “a quiet and unostentatious canvassing without any splurge of unnecessary funds”.

Rev. Mansanga Sailo, moderator of the Aizawl-based Mizoram Presbyterian Church, said over phone that the Church commandments to enforce “a clean and orderly election” in the tribal state this time had already been printed in both English and Mizo languages for wide circulation.

Rev. Sailo said the Synod had urged all political parties in the state to select only those candidates who would be clean, pious and against whom there are no charge of any corrupt practice and political misdemeanour pending.

He added that the poll commandments by the Synod include a stern warning to the candidates that they should not deploy children in the campaign. He said the churches in the vengs (residential enclaves) had already been asked to keep watch and prevent children from canvassing.

The other diktats by the Synod to the contestants are not to undertake the house campaigns as are being practised in the other states in an elaborate manner. Another norm is not be extravagant in campaign expenses by scrupulously sticking to the Election Commission- mandated upper ceiling of the campaign costs for Mizoram fixed at Rs 5 lakh.

But one campaign restriction, which is bound to raise the hackles of the contestants in general, is the embargo by the Synod on the practice by the political parties to organise the poll-eve mass feasting in the Vengs and villages in a bid to woo the voters.

An MNF party candidate who is keen to contest for the third time this year said, “What harm is there if any candidate arranges a sumptuous meal on the eve of the polling for his or her party cadre and supporters?”

However, according to Aizawl-based poll watchers, such church diktats for the voters are mostly observed during the elections in the state more in their breach.

Rev. Sailo, however, thinks otherwise, and hopes that this time the Synod’s sermonising for the polling would evoke a most positive response from women and youths.

Tripura population

Rapid growth of population and growing scarcity of land is emerging as a major problem in Tripura, reports our special correspondent.

As per the enumeration made in the 2001 census, Tripura had a population of 31.91 lakh with a decadal growth rate of 15.74 per cent. But according to data released by census department on the occasion of the World Population Day, the current daily birth rate in Tripura today is 137. The annual growth rate of population, leaving aside infiltration from Bangladesh, thus works out to be more than 50,000. Unless the growth rate is checked, 5 lakh more people will be added to the state’s population in the enumeration for the next census..

Disclosing this, director of census Krishnadhan Nath said that every year Tripura will “annually need 48,713 metric tones of foodgrains, 3,89,246 metres of clothes, 9750 houses, 886 schools and 15,531 employment”.But the main problem in Tripura is a growing scarcity of land.