Hoping to make history in Nagaland are four women candidates

The four might appear just a speck among the 184 candidates contesting for the 60 seats in Nagaland, but in the days leading up to polling on February 27, there is a strong air of anticipation that this time, after 14 Assembly elections, Nagaland might finally get at least one woman MLA.

The credentials of the women in the fray are formidable, even if they are facing men firmly entrenched in the electoral system. Kahuli Sema (57), contesting on a BJP ticket from Atoizu, plunged into politics last year after taking voluntary retirement as Engineer-in-Chief of the Public Works Department — only the second Naga woman to hold the post.

Salhoutuonuo Kruse (56), the NDPP candidate from Western Angami, has years of work in civil society organisations behind her, including as president and subsequently advisor of the Angami Women’s Organisation.

Rosy Thomson (58) is contesting on a Congress ticket from Tening after being a Congress party worker since the 1980s.

Like the other four, this is Jakhalu’s first foray into electoral politics as well. After studying at Lady Shri Ram College for Women and the Faculty of Law at Delhi University, getting an LLM from the University of San Francisco and working in a law firm in Delhi, Jakhalu made her way back to Nagaland in 2005 and founded the NGO Youthnet with the aim of “youth empowerment”.

She also has an Executive Education programme at Harvard University in her CV, and in 2019, won the Nari Shakti Puraskar from the Union Ministry of Child and Women Development.

The meeting at Wungram on Thursday evening was her second of the day. Earlier, she spent time with Nepali residents of Kushiabill village in her constituency.

“For 17 years, I have given my best to young people. I gave my best to do what I could from within an NGO set-up… But the biggest thing is that youth voices, people’s voices reach the policy level, the government level, which is why I decided to contest the elections,” she said, addressing the gathering at Wungram.

She emphasised the gap, the enormity of what she was trying to achieve: “We all know that till today Nagaland has not had a woman MLA. All other Indian states have had women MLAs, but not Nagaland. It is important that women’s voices are in the highest decision-making bodies in the state, in the Nagaland Legislative Assembly. Women can best understand the needs and aspirations of other women.”

Her days busy with meeting after meeting in her constituency, Jakhalu believes her hard work will pay off, and that people are ready for the change that a woman MLA has to offer.

However, one of the biggest challenges for women looking to contest Assembly elections in Nagaland remains the preliminary step of getting a ticket from a political party.

In 2017, violent protests leading to two deaths had broken out when the state government attempted to implement 33% women’s reservation in Urban Local Body polls. Leading from the front, the tribal bodies contended that the move was in contravention with Naga customary laws, as enshrined in Article 371(A) of the Constitution, which accords the state special status and protects its traditional way of life. In the face of the pressure, then Chief Minister T R Zeliang had to resign.

In April 2022 though, the Nagaland government announced that it was ready to implement the 33% reservation; the local body polls are yet to take place.

Ahead of the elections this time, in January, the Naga Mothers’ Association (NMA) issued an appeal to political parties to field women candidates.

“It’s not that women have not stepped in for want of trying, but the main problem is that main political parties have not supported women candidates nor nominated them over the years… Most women who have entered into the fray have either been Independents or have been last-minute adjustments by parties, in a non-serious way… The question has always been that of ‘winnability’, which has been defined by our men, not by us,” says Rosemary Dzuvichu, a professor in the English Department at Nagaland University and an advisor to the NMA.

Dzuvichu points out that the situation remains this despite the fact that way back in 1977, Rano M Shaiza had won a Lok Sabha election to become the first woman MP from Nagaland. She incidentally remains the only one still, and just last year, Phangnon Konyak, the state president of the BJP Mahila Morcha, joined her ranks as the first woman Rajya Sabha from the state.

Dzuvichu adds that the NMA decided to break from its usual practice of staying away from politics in issuing that appeal. “We knew that women contenders were seeking tickets and we felt that, this time, all political parties must stand up for what they say in their manifestos. Every election they talk about women empowerment, but how do you intend to empower women without women inside? We wrote to the leaders of all political parties and we are happy with the response. All the four women are strong contenders,” she says.

Dzuvichu adds: “We are strongly patriarchal. There are layers and layers of complicated systems and structures that make it difficult for women to really be accepted as equals… The traditional structures and systems existed in such a way that women actually had no participation at all, whether it be in village councils or traditional systems. For example, in the Ao Putu Menden, a council of elders, no woman is ever allowed.”