AIZAWL, Oct 14: The ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) in Mizoram
and the Hmar People’s Convention (Reformation), a faction of the
HPC party, on Saturday formed an alliance ahead of the November 7
assembly polls in the state.
An agreement for the alliance was signed by MNF general secretary
Lalmuanthanga Fanai and HPC(R) general secretary HT Vunga.
According to the agreement, the two parties will work together in
the upcoming assembly polls and the HPC(R) will extend full support
and make efforts to ensure that MNF candidates in the three Hmar
people-dominated constituencies -Tuivawl, Chalfilh and Serlui- in the
Sinlung Hills Council area are elected.
The MNF, if it retains power, will take steps to implement the 2018
Memorandum of Settlement (MoS) between the then Mizoram
government and the erstwhile underground outfit Hmar People’s
Convention (Democratic), functionaries of both parties said.
If the MNF returns to power, the government will “provide
rehabilitation and other welfare benefits, including jobs, to the
families of those, who lost their lives during insurgency and ex-
cadres of HPC(D), the agreement said.
The government will also provide a special package to develop the
Sinlung Hills Council and the two parties will also tie up in the local
polls to be held next year, it said.
Earlier in August, another HPC faction led by Rohringa had formed an
electoral alliance with the main opposition party, Zoram People’s
Movement (ZPM), in Mizoram to work together in the coming
assembly elections.
A section of HPC party leaders had taken up arms for five years
between 1989 and 1994, demanding an autonomous district council
to be carved out from the Hmar-dominated areas in the
northeastern part of Mizoram adjoining Manipur.
The rebel outfit signed a peace accord with the erstwhile Congress
government in 1994, which resulted in the birth of a development
council for the Hmar people.
Unhappy with the development council, the HPC (D), an off-shoot of
HPC, continued the insurgent movement till it signed an accord with
the Mizoram government in April 2018.
The 2018 peace accord led to the birth of SHC for the Hmar people.
The council has 12 constituencies, comprising 31 villages in the
Hmar-dominated northeastern part of Mizoram and covers three
assembly seats- Serlui, Tuivawl and Chalfilh. (PTI)
