Life of Zoramthanga: Abraham Lincoln’s travel from a log
cabin to the White House is a powerful
symbol of one’s political ambition, Zoramthanga’s travel from a guerilla hideout in a Myanmar jungle to the Chief
Minister’s chair is no less inspiring.
The 74-year-old leader of Mizoram’s oldest political party, Mizo National Front (MNF), was born on July
13, 1944 in a small village called
Samthang near the Myanmar border,
in Champhai district of Mizoram. After elementary education in his native village, he graduated in English
Literature from DM College in Imphal. Then, a young Zoramthanga
wanted to pursue a career in academics but the troubled socio-political situation back home forced him to return to Mizoram and he joined the Laldenga-led MNF, then a banned underground outfit. So in 1966, the fresh
graduate was an insurgent.
In 1969, when all the MNF cadres
went to East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), Zoramthanga was spotted by
Laldenga as one of the promising leaders of the outfit and he engaged him
as his secretary, a position he held
for seven years. In 1979, Zoramthanga was elevated to the vicepresident and went on to become
Laldenga’s right-hand man till the latter died in 1990. He had travelled to
several south Asian countries as Laldenga’s emissary.
Zoramthanga came over ground following the historic Mizo Accord of June
30, 1986. He succeeded Laldenga
when the latter died in 1990 and became the MNF president. He was first
elected as MLA from his home constituency Champhai in the first Mizoram State Assembly elections in 1987.
He retained this seat till he met his
Waterloo in the 2008 Assembly polls
when he was defeated by a Congress
newcomer TT Zothansanga.
Zoramthanga forged a pre-poll alliance with Mizoram People’s Conference before the 1998 elections to take
on the Congress led by Lal Thanhawla. The MNF-MPC combine won 33
seats of the 40 seats. Following the
victory, he became the CM in the coalition government, which, however,
did not last long. The MNF went on
to form the government, and singlehandedly won the 2003 elections, letting Zoramthanga remain in the CM’s
office for a second consecutive term.
After 10 years in power, Zoramthanga faced a humble defeat in
the 2008 elections from the resurrected Congress which rode on a
strong anti-incumbency wave. MNF
was reduced to just three seats
from 21 seats, with Zoramthanga
himself biting the dust in his traditional constituency.
Now, after another ten years in political wilderness, Zoramthanga, now
74, has come back as “more experienced man” as he himself put it. “I
took over as CM for the first time in
1998. I was so inexperienced then. I
spent the first five years in learning.
The next five years were better but
far from perfect,” Zoramthanga told
reporters after he was sworn in as
CM for the third time yesterday.
(Written by Zodin Sanga, for Assam Tribune)
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