And ‘God said’ unto him: Thou too shalt contest

He insists he is contesting because of “God’s calling”. He has suffered much in the past five years,he says,because he had ignored an earlier,similar order from above. He had got hold of nomination papers but didn’t file them because he was embarrassed.

“I have not been healthy since. I was paralysed from the neck down for a few days and could not speak,as if my tongue was numb,” he says,likening himself to Jonah who,as the biblical story goes,disobeyed God’s command to preach to the townspeople of Nineveh and was swallowed by a fish,spent three days in its belly,was vomited out and finally obeyed.

He says “it has been made known” to him why he has “been commanded” to contest,and the decision to contest both seats came not from himself “but was made known to me only as I filed the nomination papers”.

Of the man who wished him well,Renthlei says that he does not know him — though he has often seen him in the small town — and that the man said “he was sent” to encourage him.

Renthlei used to run a tailoring shop,then sold second-hand clothes,and currently runs a pesicide shop. He is the elected head of the local unit of the Kristian Thalai Pawl (Christian youth group) of the Presbyterian Church,which has roughly half the state’s population as members.

At a joint platform organised by the election watchdog Mizoram People’s Forum in Hrangturzo constituency,Renthlei stood out from the rest — who included the chief minister — with his attire as well as the manner of his address.

Clad in a shirt with traditional Mizo prints,a wooden walking stick by his side,one arm held high with an index finger out,another placed on an open Bible lying on the lectern,Renthlei began his 15-minute speech by reading a few verses from the Bible.

The independent candidate introduced himself and proceeded to preach a sermon rather than deliver a speech,talking of the Israelis escaping slavery in Egypt and reaching “the promised land” after an entire generation perished while wandering in the desert.

“Mizoram was delivered from slavery in 1894,” he said,referring to the year Christian missionaries arrived. “The time has come for us Mizos to enter the promised land…”