A day on campaign trail: Mizoram's richest candidate campaigns on foot door-to-door

He is the richest candidate in Mizoram's assembly elections with declared assets of Rs 55 crore, owns a popular football club and has a fleet of luxury cars, but Mizo National Front (MNF) leader Robert Romawia Royte says he wants to keep his electioneering modest with door-to-door campaign on foot.

Royte, the main opposition party's candidate from Aizawl East-II constituency in the state, is a first-timer in assembly polls and is fighting from a seat where the ruling Congress has fielded veteran leader and incumbent finance minister Lalsawta.

The MNF leader had unsuccessfully fought the Lok Sabha polls in 2014 as an independent candidate.

The 51-year old millionaire businessman, who owns Aizawl FC that bagged the I-League title in 2017, says he is following an "eco-friendly" campaign without any hullabaloo or sloganeering.

Mizoram will go for polling on November 28 to elect the representatives for the 40-member assembly, while the counting scheduled for December 11.

Starting with a meeting with his supporters at 6:45 am in house of an MNF cadre at Dawrpui locality of Aizawl city on Wednesday, Royte held a prayer before going out to woo the voters.

The campaign team, an equal mix of both genders, carried a small packet of cards, similar to the size of a visiting card, that had Royte's name as the MNF candidate from the constituency and nothing else. The team carried no flags, no posters, no loud speakers and went door to door on foot, unlike the common sight of bike rallies in these elections.

Royte, carrying a packet of cards himself to distribute among voters, said he favours "a non-corrupt way of campaigning" and is not trying to influence voters by any other means.

The first house was of school teacher Lalruatdika, to whom Royte handed over a card and requested for two votes from his family.

Because of the hilly terrain of Aizawl, each house is constructed in a unique way that has 3-4 floors below the ground level, while similar number of floors are built above ground also.

This means that to meet all the residents in a building, one has to climb 5-7 floors up and down without any lift, and Royte was seen religiously following the drill.

This terrain also leaves use of cars or bikes less effective while campaigning.

"I want to campaign in a clean manner. I restricted all my campaigners from telling anything negative about my opponent. We are against the Congress party, but not against the individuals. Attacking them personally is not good," Royte told PTI while continuing his door-to-door campaign early morning.

The football enthusiast, who owns Mizoram's first sports car worth Rs 50 lakh and runs a construction company, shook hands with everyone on his way including vegetable and fruit vendors in the local market of the area.

As the campaign team stopped at a small shop at around 8 am to have cup cakes and fruit juice for breakfast after covering around 20 houses, Royte said, "As a new entrant, I am very committed and determined to fight dirty politics."