Any Party Seen Backing Manipur’s Meiteis…”: Zoramthanga On Mizoram Polls

Guwahati: 

Every time Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga holds street corner meetings for his party the Mizo National Front (MNF), he brings up the ethnic unrest in neighbouring Manipur.

Zoramthanga, 79, has been holding such meetings at village Sihphir on the outskirts of the state capital Aizawl. This area falls under his Aizawl East 1 constituency.

The three-time Chief Minister has not only sheltered thousands of internally displaced Chin-Kuki tribes from Manipur, but has also taken a stand against the BJP government in Manipur led by his counterpart N Biren Singh.

Though the MNF is an ally of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Zoramthanga – citing kinship and familial ties with the Chin-Kuki tribes in Myanmar – has openly given shelter to at least 40,000 refugees who fled from the junta rule in the neighbouring nation.

“We are not a partner with the BJP in the election. We are only a member of the NDA in the centre, not in the state. The government of India told me to push back Myanmar and Bangladesh refugees. But we have been sheltering them for years and India has given humanitarian services. Our stand on the Manipur issue is a big, big plus point in this election,” Zoramthanga told NDTV.

The MNF swept the 2018 assembly election, winning 27 of the 40 seats. Zoramthanga’s party has projected him as the “guardian of the Chin-Kuki-Zo tribes”, though his rivals and other parties like the BJP has accused him of corruption, not checking rising unemployment and drug trafficking, and poor infrastructure.