After MNF’s crushing defeat, Zoramthanga tendered his resignation to Governor Dr Hari Babu Kambhampati at Raj Bhavan. ZPM has clinched a landslide victory in the northeastern state, winning 27 out of the 40 assembly seats. 

MNF leader Zoramthanga has not only lost the state but also his seat. The incumbent Chief Minister was defeated by the opposition ZPM candidate, Lalthansanga in Aizawl East. The ZPM candidate won by a margin of 2101 votes.

On the other hand, the ZPM’s chief ministerial candidate Lalduhoma won in Serchhip, defeating the MNF candidate by a comfortable margin of 2982 votes. According to the Election Commission of India, the ruling MNF has managed 10 seats in the 40 member assembly. Meanwhile, the BJP has secured two wins and the Congress gained one seat. 

Reacting to the election results, ZPM’s Lalduhoma said that he is not at all surprised and this is what they expected. He added that the ZPM is likely to be the single largest party with an absolute majority. 

More than 80 per cent of the state’s 8.57 lakh voters exercised their franchise in Mizoram. Nearly, 174 candidates, including 18 women, were in the fray in the 40-member state assembly. A political party had to cross the halfway mark of 21 to form the government in the northeastern state. 

The key players of the election were the Mizo National Front (MNF), Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) and the Congress who contested 40 seats each. In Mizoram, the BJP fielded candidates in 13 seats. The AAP which contested the assembly polls in Mizoram for the first time, fought in four seats. Furthermore, there were 17 Independent candidates.

In the 2018 assembly elections, the MNF, a constituent of the BJP-led NDA, won 26 seats, dislodging the Congress from power. The ZPM emerged victorious in eight seats. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath reportedly approved Baba Balak Nath’s name as the Chief Minister of Rajasthan. The RSS has also accepted his name as the state’s leader. On Sunday, the BJP returned to power in the state, winning 115 seats among 199 Assembly constituencies. The Congress has secured 68 seats. 

Baba Balak Nath is seen as the mirror image of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Aditynath. Though former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje has been a strong candidate for many decades, she was not projected as the face of the Chief Minister position for the 2023 Rajasthan state election. Reports said that the name of the Rajasthan Chief Minister can be announced anytime soon.

The potential Chief Minister, Baba Balak Nath is the mutt head selected by the BJP to contest against Congress’s Imran Khan in the Muslim dominated Tijara Assembly constituency. He won from the constituency with a significant margin. Baba Balak Nath, fondly known as Rajasthan’s Yogi, hails from Alwar and is the Chancellor of Baba Mast Nath University in Haryana’s Rohtak city. He is also the eighth mahant of Baba Mast Nath Nath, which is the national headquarters of the Nath yogi’s sect. 

Notably, Baba Balak Nath and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath share closeness and the former treats the UP Chief Minister as his big brother. Moreover, Baba Balak Nath has often praised Yogi Adityanath in the past for his popular bulldozers politics, that involves using bulldozers to demolish illegal encroachments in the state. 

Furthermore, the closeness between the two and their identical saffron robes, has helped Baba Balak Nath to build an image similar to that of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in the northern state ahead of the assembly election. 

The assembly election in Rajasthan was conducted on November 25. 

As Cyclone Michaung intensified into a severe cyclonic storm, two people were killed and another was injured after a newly constructed wall collapsed in Chennai’s Kanathur. With continuous heavy rain and gusty winds, flight operations at Chennai airport were affected as the runway was flooded. Multiple flights have been cancelled and others diverted in view of heavy rain and have been suspended till 11 pm.

The Indian Meteorological Department said that Cyclone Michaung intensified into a severe cyclonic storm on Monday. In addition, heavy rain lashed Chennai through the night on Monday as Cyclone Michaung inched closer to Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh coasts.  Reports said that heavy rain led to severe waterlogging and due to the increase of water levels in low-lying areas.

In view of the weather condition, the Tamil Nadu government has declared a public holiday on Monday and Tuesday in Chennai, Kanchipuram, Tiruvallur, and Chengalpattu districts. The government also urged private companies employees to ‘work from home’ in the wake of Michaung. Furthermore, essential services such as milk supply and healthcare facilities would be operational.

Meanwhile, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has deployed 21 teams in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Puducherry and eight additional teams have been kept in reserve in view of Michaung.

Reports stated that the effect of Cyclone Michuang may be felt in the southern districts of West Bengal, including Kolkata. Further, light to moderate rainfall is also predicted on December 6 and 7 in Purba and Paschim Medinipur, Jhargram, North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Kolkata, Howrah and Hooghly, the Met Department said on Sunday.

On the other hand, the Odisha government has put all the coastal and southern district collectors on alert and cancelled the leave of field workers under the Agriculture department. Reportedly, the East Coast Railway (ECoR) has cancelled 60 trains and set up a round-the-clock helpline for providing information and assistance to passengers.