Aizawl, November 20: In a startling claim, the Mizoram election in-charge of Bharatiya Janata Party, Himanta Biswa Sarma, said a post-poll tie-up is "possible" with senior Congress leader and Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla. The remarks hint towards the modus operandi adopted by the BJP in Arunachal Pradesh, where the entire Congress' legislature party jumped ship to the saffron camp in 2016.

Biswa, while contending that the BJP faces an uphill task in the Christian-majority Mizoram, said the post-poll scenario would allow the party come to power for the first time. Either a coalition would be formed with Mizo National Front (MNF) supremo Zoramthanga or Congress' Thanhawla. EC Appoints New State Chief Election Officer Ahead of Polls.

Sarma, while speaking to NDTV, said an alliance with the Congress in Mizoram is not akin to tying up with the Rahul Gandhi-led outfit at the Centre. The party has a different constitution here, he pointed out. "It has a unique history... Lal Thanhawla takes independent decisions. We are friendly with the chief minister as an individual," said Sarma, who had left the Congress in 2015 to join the BJP.

Sarma said the BJP's strategy in Mizoram is based at constituency-level fights, rather than lambasting the entire state-level leadership of either the MNF or the Congress.

Notably, Mizoram is the only north-eastern state where the Congress is in power. In the last three years, the BJP succeeded in winning 5 states in the region -- either through majority or by joining hands with regional parties.

Earlier in the year, the party had wrested Tripura with a brute majority, and through post-poll tie-ups in Meghalaya and Nagaland -- where it won only 2 seats.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 20, 2018 11:17 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).