Focus on four women candidates in Nagaland polls

As Nagaland goes to the polls on Monday to elect a new Assembly all eyes will be on four women candidates who are trying to create history by becoming the first women to be elected as a legislator in this North Eastern stateFor a state with women in leadership roles in almost all key social issues it never had a woman MLA social observers saidOf the total electorate of 1317632 the number of female voters in this election is 656143 or 498 per cent There are four women nominees in the electoral fray out of total 183 candidatesThe four women candidates are Hekhani Jakhalu of NDPP in DimapurIII seat Rosy Thompson of Congress in Tening seat Salhoutuonuo of NDPP in Western Angami seat and Kahuli Sema of BJP in Atoizu seatIts a paradox that in most states of North East women are in leadership role in social issues but are denied their place in the political sphere political analyst and author Sushanta Talukdar saidAlso readMan shot dead in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama PoliceIn Nagaland too they are in the forefront in all social issues like leading the antiAFSPA movement peace brokering with militant groups etc But they do not have adequate political representation he saidThe state had sent a woman as its Lok Sabha representative way back in 1977 itself when Rano Mese Shazia was elected on a United Democratic Party ticketAfter that it was only last year that a second woman entered Parliament from the state with BJP nominating S Phangnon Konyak as the Rajya Sabha member from NagalandNagaland has one seat each in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha while its Assembly has 60 seatsPonglem Konyak a social activist maintained that the main reason for almost no representation of women in electoral democracy is the traditional hierarchical system which is biased towards menWe have been handed down the traditional system of hierarchy where women do not have a role in decision making It is also being followed now under the modern democracy the president of Mon district unit of Konyak Nyupuh Sheko Khong KNSK a womens organisation of the Konyaks told PTIShe said women have been contesting the Assembly polls even though in few numbers but there have been no women winnersThe head of the family decides who they will vote for and that leads to other women also not voting for the female candidates even as a show of solidarity There is a lack of public support in general for women candidates Ponglem said analysing the reasons for poor show even though female voters are almost equal in numbers to their male counterpartsWe may not have political success yet but in the social sphere we are active We will get there into the Assembly too one day she addedTalukdar said that political representation of the women is essential to ensure that they get their other due rightsFor instance if women MLAs get elected this time it will strengthen the movement for implementing 33 per cent reservation for women in local bodies he addedFor college passout Angip from Mon or the two Ao sisters who run a wayside eatery in Mokokchung district the four female candidates portray hope that women will finally get their due place in the higher echelons of powerThey may not be directly impacted even if one of them wins this time but it will definitely have a longterm bearing they maintained while also urging the women already in leadership roles to ensure concrete steps for their empowerment and use their position for taking forward womens issuesElection for the 60member Assembly will be held on February 27 and counting of votes will take place on March 2This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever