Laldenga (11 June 1927 – 7 July 1990) was a Mizo nationalist and politician from Mizoram in northeast India. He was the founder of the Mizo National Front, a social organisation turned political party. He was the first Chief Minister of Mizoram as a federated state, the office of which he held from 1986 to 1988. Originally a Havildar in the Indian Army, Laldenga later worked as an Accounts Clerk in the Government of Assam. Disappointed by the government's indifference to the severe famine in the Mizo district in the late 1950s, he rebelled against the government. As a leader of the Mizo National Front (MNF), he led a secessionist war seeking Mizo territory's independence from India. He was captured many times, and spent most of his time in exile in Bangladesh. The guerrilla movement lasted for sixteen years till the Mizo Accord was signed in 1986, by which he became the Chief Minister of the new state of Mizoram. He won the first Mizoram Legislative Assembly election under statehood in 1987, and continued at the Chief Minister office for another year. He died of lung cancer in 1990. Early years Laldenga, the fourth child of a cultivator Liantlira Ralte and Darchhungi Hnamte, was born on 11 June 1927 in village Pukpui in the Mizo district of Assam (now in the Lunglei district of Mizoram). He joined the Indian Army in 1944 and served up to Havildar. He resigned from the army and joined civil service as Accounts Supervisor under District Council office in Aizawl. Secessionist movements Laldenga joined a voluntary organisation called Mizo Cultural Society, formed in 1955, as its Secretary. The society became Mautam Front in March 1960 to work for relief due to the Mautam famine that affected the entire Mizoram (which was then a district council of Assam). The government could not make efficient effort to provide basic survival needs, and this prompted the need for more powerful pressure group. The organisation was then renamed Mizo National Famine Front (MNFF) in September 1960. This soon evolved into a political organisation and ultimately became the Mizo National Front (MNF) on 22 October 1961. Laldenga took the support from Pakistan for the separatist movement and was arrested and jailed by Indian authorities. As an outcome of his talks, between 1963 and 1966 East Pakistan provided military training and shelter to Mizo fighters when they needed exile. On the