Baryl Vanneihsangi, belonging to the Zoram People’s Movement-ZPM, won from Aizawl South-III constituency by 1,414 votes in the recent Assembly elections to become the youngest MLA of Mizoram at 32.
The ZPM, despite being the newest party in Mizoram rose to prominence swiftly and won the election by taking 27 of 40 seats, decimating the Mizo National Front or MNF.
Baryl Vanneihsangi joined the other two women to be elected to the Mizoram Assembly and is already a known figure through her profession as a radio jockey with considerable followers of over 252k on Instagram.
Reacting about her newly-achieved feat in the political arena, the former TV presenter expressed, “I just want to tell all the women out there that our gender doesn’t stop us from doing anything that we like and wish to pursue. It doesn’t prevent us from taking up something that we are passionate about. My message to them is that regardless of which community or social strata they belong to, if they want to take up something they should just go for it.”
Vanneihsangi, who reportedly has no criminal records against her, completed Masters in Arts from the North Eastern Hill University in Shillong. She has also worked as a corporator in the Aizawl Municipal Corporation.
Out of the 174 candidates contesting the Mizoram election, only 16 were women. Of them, two contested in two constituencies each, making it 18 seats having women candidates fighting the Assembly elections.
The other two women are ZPM’s Lalrinpuii and MNF’s Prova Chakma. The outgoing Mizoram Assembly had no women MLAs.
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