AIZAWL: The BJP , which most of the northeast sees as a pro-Hindu party, has managed to win its first assembly seat in five attempts it made in the strategic border state where Christians form 97% of the population. However, it failed to find any takers among the Bru voter base.Of the 40 seats in Mizoram , BJP primarily placed its bets on two Buddhist Chakma-majority constituencies in the state - West Tuipui and Tuichawng constituencies in Champhai district. The Chakmas, primarily Buddhists, form a minority community in the state. They came from the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh - many of them between 1957 and 1962 following religious persecution - and settled in Tripura from where several others resettled in Arunachal Pradesh. There are many others who settled in New Delhi as well.Placing its bets on the minority paid off in Tuichawng, where it won. "We had high hopes in the two Chakma-majority seats in Champhai district. The two candidates were very good," said BJP state president JV Hluna, who forfeited his deposit after losing from Tawi.BJP had categorized the 40 seats in three groups. In Group A, the saffron party had kept 15 seats where it thought it had a high probability to win provided the right candidate was fielded in the right place. One of the Chakma candidates BJP fielded, BD Chakma, proved to be one such candidate. BJP's strategy of winning over established leaders from rival parties to secure a toehold was on display in Mizoram as well - Chakma had switched over from Congress just before the election.BJP lost the other seat, West Tuipui, along with 37 other seats it had contested. According to party insiders, the loss in the other 38 seats was mainly due to BJP's central leadership's focus on minority Chakma constituencies, which made Mizo workers unhappy.In Hachhek, considered a Bru-majority seat that BJP had banked on, too, it was Congress that won. In the run-up to the election, BJP had put a lot of effort into winning the minority Brus over - but it does not seem to have had much of an impact.The mandate has sent a clear message that BJP is still not welcome in Mizoram, unlike what happened in the other Christian-majority state of Nagaland last March where BJP won handsomely. There was also unhappiness among BJP workers who believed that they could turn the tide in Mizoram. As a result, majority Christian voters rejected the saffron party which found a base among minority Buddhists.BJP insiders said there was one more reason of resentment among party workers - the party's central leadership refusal to hand over the control of the party's affairs to the state unit."MNF had finalized its candidates a year ago. Congress is already here. MNF and Congress candidates have been working in the constituencies much before the polls were declared. They had the advantage of over an year and the workers are not happy with this either," said a party insider.

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