Mizo National Front chief and former Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga on Thursday told PTI that Bharatiya Janata Party National President Amit Shah’s claim that the saffron party will rule India for 50 years if it is re-elected in 2019 is an exaggeration. The Mizo National Front is an ally of the BJP and a constituent of the North East Democratic Alliance, which was formed in 2016.

The BJP chief had made the claim at the party’s national executive meeting in September.

“I doubt,” Zoramthanga said, when asked about Shah’s claim. “He [Shah] is not a God. He cannot predict that in politics. Even Modi cannot predict that. That is his wishful thinking. Nobody can predict that.”

The Mizo National Front leader said the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance will not come back to power in 2019. “Shah may predict that the Congress will not come to power for decades,” the former chief minister added. “But to predict for 50 years or 100 years, it is rather an exaggeration.”

Zoramthanga said the Mizo National Front was completely opposed to the BJP’s Hindutva ideology but that the party is better for the country than the Congress, which has ruled the state since 2008. “Because we are Christians [we oppose BJP ideology],” he said. “They want to promote Hindutva. We cannot be together as far as these things are concerned. We have a different ideology. As far as the country is concerned, the NDA is better than the UPA and that is why we joined them at the Centre.”

Assembly elections were held in Mizoram on November 28 and the results are expected on December 11.