Aizawl: Mizoram’s main opposition party, the Mizo National Front (MNF), opposed the Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) government’s decision to amend the prohibition law to allow the sale and manufacture of wine and beer in the state, a party leader said on Wednesday.
At a meeting chaired by party president Zoramthanga, MNF leaders strongly disapproved of the move to relax the liquor ban by amending the Mizoram Liquor (Prohibition) Act, which has been in place since May 2019, according to media cell secretary Lallenmawia Jongte.
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The meeting viewed lifting the ban on wine and beer as a first step toward relaxing alcohol restrictions in the dry state.
The MNF leaders also expressed strong objections to the government’s decision to open liquor shops for certain individuals through the state excise and narcotics department.
During the meeting in Aizawl, the MNF leaders opposed the government’s plan to transfer the state’s only airport to the Indian Air Force (IAF).
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They vowed to resist this move if the government continued with it, despite opposition from various parties and civil society organizations, Jongte added.
Meanwhile, opposition members appealed to delay the introduction of the Mizoram Liquor (Prohibition) Amendment Bill, 2025, in the state assembly on Wednesday.
Assembly Speaker Lalbiakzama informed the house that he had deferred the amendment bill for another day during the ongoing session, despite its listing for introduction.
He explained that opposition leaders from the MNF, Congress, and BJP met with him before the assembly session and requested more time to study and scrutinize the bill.
Ongoing debates question whether the government should review the existing prohibition law, as Mizoram faces limited revenue sources and many people have died from alcohol consumption despite being a dry state.
The previous MNF government, led by Zoramthanga, enacted the Mizoram Liquor (Prohibition) Act in 2019, imposing a blanket ban on the sale, manufacture, and consumption of liquor, including wine and beer.
This law replaced the “Mizoram Liquor (Prohibition & Control) Act, 2014,” introduced by the Congress government under Lal Thanhawla, which allowed liquor shops to operate in the state.
However, in 2022, following protests from local grape growers, the Zoramthanga government notified new rules allowing the manufacture, sale, and export of grape wines made from locally grown grapes.
Mizoram has been largely dry since India’s independence, with strong backing from churches and community-based organizations supporting a stringent prohibition law.
The state opened its first wine shop in 1984 under the Mizoram Excise Act, 1973, but closed them in 1987, maintaining partial prohibition. After partial relaxation, the Congress government imposed the “Mizoram Liquor Total Prohibition Act, 1995,” which completely banned liquor from February 1997.
In 2015, the Lal Thanhawla government introduced a law allowing wine shops, but after the MNF came to power, it reversed the policy, adhering to its election promise to reimpose dry law.
The ZPM government indicated in March last year that it would review the state’s prohibition law.