Regarded as the orange bowl of Mizoram, the prestigious Aizawl South III constituency will witness an interesting tussle between state home minister Tawnluia and number two in the cabinet and Congress nominee and former student leader K S Thanga.

Tawnluia, the former Mizo National Front (MNF) Army chief prior to the Mizo accord, has his presence felt through the few posters he has been allowed to display by the Mizo Peoples Forum (MPF) in this tiny constituency, covering 28 villages and hamlets, bordering the capital town of Aizawl.

A visiting PTI correspondent found the campaign at a very low-key due to the MPF diktat, which the candidates have religiously followed.

The MPF decision has also affected the more than 16000 voters of this constituency as most of whom when approached were not in a mood to elaborate on the fate of the hopefuls.

At a funeral yesterday, 56 year-old L R Liana who was among those who visited the bereaved family, only said some of the candidates had visited Melriat village.

"We have seen F Lalnummawia (United Democratic Alliance candidate) attending the funeral while Tawnluia visited the bereaved family in the morning," Liana told this correspondent.

 Thanga, the Congress nominee and a student leader, felt that at the nearby village Kelsih, which has about 140 households, the  battle will be evenly poised between the Congress and the MNF.

Thanga is, however, hoping to be third time lucky as his earlier two efforts to find a place in the state assembly were unsuccessful.

Aizawl South-III, though included in the city constituencies comprised villages outside it and is one of the three constituencies to have more men voters than women voters.

The independent candidate F Lalnummawia, an energetic 35-year old lecturer in the Mizo University has drawn attention during his visit to the constituency. He is expected to garner support from Samtlang village in the constituency, where he was brought up.

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