With no other candidate filing nomination for the March 31 elections to the lone Rajya Sabha seat from the state, BJP's S. Phangnon Konyak is now all set to become the first woman Rajya Sabha member from Nagaland.
Of course, doubts persist as to how much this episode will change the course of Nagaland politics, but it was path breaking, and certainly not an easy one.
Narendra Modi's image of a strong, decisive and gutsy Prime Minister also played a key role. Perhaps even his worst rival knows that Modi has an inclination to go for a milestone which others would say is unconventional. This is one such.
The Nagaland Assembly holds the dubious distinction of opposing the women's quota bill, which had sought to reserve 33 per cent of state legislature and parliamentary seats for women in 1997. An official resolution was moved by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Zhove Lohe during the tenure of the S.C. Jamir government in Nagaland and was passed unanimously.
The influential Naga Students' Federation (NSF) too had written to parliamentary select committee chairperson Geeta Mukherjee, saying the bill went against Naga tradition. Even the women's reservation in urban local bodies has been opposed vehemently.
So the BJP's move is not an ordinary one, though fielding its state women's wing chief for the Rajya Sabha polls may not seem as much of a surprise in the rest of India.
(IANS inputs)
