Congress candidate for Mizoram Assembly elections, Miriam L Hrangchal, who was opposed by a local students' union for marrying a person from outside the Mizo community, has claimed that the resistance was "influenced" by her opponent political parties.
In an interview with PTI, Ms. Hrangchal who is contesting from the Lunglei South constituency termed the students' organisation Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP) as a "pressure group" and asserted that people in her constituency are not concerned about her personal choice or family issues.
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Ms. Hrangchal married local resident Dipen Zoliana, who belonged to the Gorkha community but has adopted Christianity and Mizo identity.
"Some political parties supported them (MZP) and there was political influence to oppose my candidature. They are a pressure group. There will be pressure groups and NGOs who will express their opinion, but that does not necessarily mean they will change things politically," Ms. Hrangchal who is contesting elections for the first time said.
Such groups spoke about her personal choice and family life, but people are wise enough to know who loves this land and who will work for them, the Congress candidate said. On October 20, supporters of MZP held a demonstration in Aizawl, protesting against the Congress for fielding Ms. Hrangchal in the Lunglei South constituency as she is a Mizo woman who married a person from outside the community.
"In my constituency, there is no problem and people have hopes on me. I am not concerned about it [MZP's protest] as I am in the middle of my campaigning. I think they need to be educated regarding what is their jurisdiction," she said.
Ms. Hrangchal said MZP is a student group and they should focus on issues related to the community like lack of textbooks till now while examinations are nearing.
"I am thankful that the Congress party stood by me and made it a non-issue. Majority of the people have the right mentality on the issue," she added.
Mizoram Congress President Lalsawta said Hrangchal was given nomination as the party believes that she is an "asset" to the state.
The MZP had in December last year asked all political parties not to nominate any Mizo woman who is married to a non-Mizo person.
Talking about her campaigning, Ms. Hrangchal said she is focussing on the basic needs of the people like roads, water, food, transportation, electricity and education.
"I have promised that I will give ₹2,000 per month to all the widows of my constituency. Mizo women are very hard-working and they take a lot of pain in raising their children. This support will ease their burden to a large extent," she said.
Ms. Hrangchal said that this promise is specific to her constituency only and it will be financed from the MLA Local Area Development fund.
She also stated that after winning the polls, she will try to revamp the government schools of the area.
"The government schools are in really bad shape. This has forced even below poverty line [BPL] families to send their kids to private schools, thereby affecting their family income. I was a principal of a government school, which was defunct and I had transformed it into a model school with the highest enrollment," she claimed.
Ms. Hrangchal said that she took voluntary retirement around five years ago after 23 years of service.
Asked about the Congress party's chances this time, Ms. Hrangchal said: "We will form the government for sure. People are together this time and they realise that Congress is the most reliable." The Congress is contesting in all the 40 seats. It had won five seats in the last Assembly election in 2018.
Polling for the Mizoram Assembly will be held on November 7 and votes will be counted on December 3.
