Mizo National Front chief Zoramthanga was sworn in as the chief minister of Mizoram on Saturday, PTI reported. His party had won 26 seats in the 40-member Assembly in the elections held on November 28. Votes were counted on Tuesday.

Zoramthanga was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor K Rajasekharan.

The 74-year-old was the chief minister from 1998 till 2008. He succeeded Lal Thanhawla, whose Congress party had been in power for two consecutive terms since 2008. The Congress won only five seats this time. Thanhawla himself contested two seats, and lost both. He resigned on Tuesday after the results came in, after which Zoramthanga met the governor to stake claim to form government.

Zoramthanga told The Economic Times that there is “no question” of including the lone Bharatiya Janata Party MLA in the new government. Buddha Dhan Chakma, a former Congress leader, became the first-ever BJP candidate to win a seat in the Mizoram Assembly. The Mizo National Front is an ally of the BJP in the North East Democratic Alliance.

“We will consult party leaders on [whether to continue with the BJP-led alliance],” Zoramthanga was quoted as saying. “BJP has no place in Christian-dominated Mizoram. Mizoram is a complex society.”

However, Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had tweeted on Tuesday that with the win for MNF in Mizoram, constituents of the North East Democratic Alliance would now head governments in the entire North East. “We worked towards it tirelessly for last three years under leadership of Narendra Modi,” he said.