DHAKA: As India holds the latest round of its mammoth elections Friday, one man, polygamist and sect leader Zionnghaka Chana, has become the voter every local politician wants to know.

With 39 wives and 127 children and grandchildren, Chana is a voter like no other in the remote northeastern state of Mizoram, and can deliver a sizeable bloc of support.

‘We were witnessing a rush of politicians seeking votes in the last few days,’ Chana said from his 100-room home in the hills of Baktawng village outside the state capital Aizawl.

‘During every election we are much in demand as the winning margins of politicians in this state are slim, so even 100-odd votes matter to them,’ Chana, 70, said earlier this week.

Mizoram is the only state voting on Friday, in the fourth of nine stages of voting in the world’s biggest election, after the Election Commission rescheduled polling following a dispute over whether tribal groups displaced during recent ethnic strife were allowed to vote in their refugee camps.

The state represents less than one per cent of India’s 814 million-strong electorate. Voting across India ends on May 12, with results due four days later, reports gulfnews.com.

BDST: 2039 HRS, APR 12, 2014