Nagaland creates history in Assembly election, two women candidates elected for the first time in 60 years

For the first time in 60 years, two women candidates from Nagaland, who contested the state Assembly elections, have been elected as Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs).

Salhoutuonuo Kruse and Hekani Jakhalu, both members of the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP), scripted history by becoming the first women to run for state Assembly,

Kruse won from Western Angami Assembly constituency while Jakhalu won from Dimapur lll constituency. 

It is important to note that both the chief ministers of Assam and Nagaland, Himanta Biswa Sarma and Neiphiu Rio, had campaigned for Kruse. 

Jakhalu, on the other hand, graduated from Delhi University and is a faculty member there. She is a lawyer who turned social entrepreneur and founded YouthNet. She studied law in the United States. She also received the Nari Shakti Puraskar award from the Indian President on International Women's Day at Rastrapati Bhavan. 

Jakhalu's manifesto offers a vision for youth development, women's empowerment, minority rights, and a model constituency in relation to the Dimapur III seat.

In the 60-member Assembly, Nagaland had not had a woman MLA since it became a state in 1963. Women haven't never run for office, but that doesn't mean they haven't. 

Jakhalu, Kruse, Rosy Thomson of the Congress, and Kahuli Sema of the BJP are the four women who ran for office this year.
 
Rano M Shaiza was the only woman elected to the Lok Sabha in Nagaland in 1977. S Phangnon Konyak became the first woman to hold a seat in the BJP's Rajya Sabha in Nagaland when she was elected in 2022.

According to the Election Commission of India, the ruling NDPP-BJP alliance won five seats and led in 34 seats in the Nagaland assembly election.

Postal ballots and electronic voting machines (EVMs) were used to begin counting votes for the 59 Nagaland Assembly seats at 8 a.m.

According to the EC website, the NDPP led in 23 seats and its alliance partner, the BJP, led in 11 seats. A 40:20 seat-sharing agreement governed the election between the BJP and the NDPP.

According to the report, NDPP supremo Neiphiu Rio prevailed over his closest rival from the Indian National Congress party, Seyievilie Sachu, by a margin of 92.87 percent votes. From Tyui's seat, BJP nominee and deputy chief minister Y Patton prevailed.

Also read : Nagaland Elections: BJP's A Pangjung Jamir wins Tuli Constituency with 3029 votes