Baryl Vanneihsangi, a radio jockey with a sizeable Instagram following has become the youngest MLA of Mizoram after winning the recent state election.
The 32-year-old, belonging to the Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM), won from Aizawl South-III constituency by 1,414 votes.
The ZPM, Mizoram’s newest party, won the election by taking 27 of 40 seats, decimating the incumbent Mizo National Front (MNF).
Baryl Vanneihsangi, one of the three women elected to the Mizoram assembly, is popular on Instagram with over 252k followers.
Soon after the Mizoram results, the former TV presenter spoke emphatically about gender equality and urged women to follow their passion.
“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,” she told news agency ANI.
Ms Vanneihsangi has a Masters in Arts from the North Eastern Hill University in Shillong. She had earlier been 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.