Hekhani Jakhalu, Salhoutuonuo Kruse become first women MLAs in Nagaland assembly

Assembly polls were held on Monday in 59 of the 60 Assembly constituencies in Nagaland, where 85.90% of 13.16 lakh had electors cast their ballots

Hekhani Jakhalu and Salhoutuonuo Kruse of the ruling Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) created history on Thursday by becoming the first women to be elected to the 60-member Nagaland Assembly. Both are electoral debutants and defeated sitting MLAs. Jakhalu won the Dimapur III seat by 1,536 votes. Kruse won the Western Angami seat by seven votes. Apart from these two, Hukali Sema of the BJP and Rosy Thompson contested the Nagaland Assembly election this time.

Before this, Nagaland Assembly had never had a woman MLA since its formation in 1963. Last year in March, Nagaland got its second woman parliamentarian. Phangnon Konyak, Nagaland BJP's Mahila Morcha president, was elected to the Rajya Sabha unopposed. Rano M Shaiza was the other woman MP from the state. A United Democratic Party leader, Shaiza won the Lok Sabha elections in 1977.

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Jakhalu has a law degree and is a social entrepreneur and founder and chair of YouthNet Nagaland, an organisation working for educated unemployed youth in the state to pursue entrepreneurship. Kruse, 56, defeated the sitting MLA Keneizhakho Nakhro by seven votes. "It is all God's providence as the margin was thin and also the support of the people that I got elected," she said. Kruse is the widow of Kevisekho Kruse, a retired government employee who had contested the last Assembly poll on an NDPP ticket from the same seat but lost. She had served as the president of the influential Angami Women Organisation and also as the executive in Angami Public Organisation, an apex tribal body here.

The two other women candidates in the fray for the Assembly election were Kahuli Sema of BJP and Rosy Thompson of Congress. Sema contested against sitting MLA Picto in Atoizu and lost by 102 votes. Thompson fought against sitting MLA Namri Nchang and four others in the Tening seat at Pereng district.