HIGHLIGHTS:
• S Phangnon Konyak becomes Nagaland’s first female Rajya Sabha member
• She took oath in the Upper House wearing her traditional Naga clothes and jewelry
• Konyak stood as the consensus candidate of the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA)
A woman from Nagaland elected to the Rajya Sabha for the first time. S Phangnon Konyak became a member of the BJP in 2017 and is now the state president of the BJP Mahila Morcha. She is the second woman from Nagaland to be elected to Parliament in 45 years, following Rano M Sahiza. Konyak is officially a Member of Parliament, after no other contender filed nomination papers for the biennial elections by the deadline of March 21, She is the ruling United Democratic Alliance’s (UDA) candidate of choice.
Women participation in Parliament
Women’s representation in Parliament is always a hot topic. Women have a lower representation in Parliament than men. In such a scenario S Phangnon Konyak can serve as an inspiration to all women in the country.
Taking oath in the Upper House wearing her traditional Naga clothes and jewelry
Nagaland has a diverse linguistic heritage, with nearly as many languages as tribes. In the Upper House, we can see the exquisite naga culture. S Phangnon Konyak, the head of the BJP Nagaland Mahila Morcha, took the oath in the Upper House while dressed in traditional Naga attire and wearing traditional Naga jewellery.
Who is S Phangnon Konyak?
Konyak, a 44-year-old resident of Nagaland’s Mon district, holds a master’s degree in English Literature from Delhi University. She has the distinction of being Nagaland’s first female Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha. Rano M Shaiza was elected to the Lok Sabha before her in 1977. Konyak graduated from Dimapur’s Holy Cross Higher Secondary School and earned a Master of Arts in English from the University of Delhi’s Daulat Ram College in 2002. She began her political career as a student activist before joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2017. In 2020, she was given the task of strengthening the party’s
Mahila Morcha in the state.
6 MPs, including Nagaland’s first woman MP, take oath in Rajya Sabha
In the presence of Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu and other lawmakers, six Rajya Sabha MPs, including Nagaland’s first woman Rajya Sabha MP, S. Phangnon Konyak, took their oaths as members of the Upper
House
6 MPs were :-Two MPs from the Bharatiya Janata Party : Pabitra Margherita, Assam, and S. Phangnon Konyak, Nagaland, one from the United People’s Party Liberal: Rwngwra Narzary, Assam, one from the Communist Party of India: Santosh Kumar, Kerala , one from the Communist Party of India-Marxist : AA Rahim, Kerala, and one from the Congress were elected : Jebi Mather Hisham, Kerala.
Nagaland Assembly
Nagaland is the country’s only state without an opposition. The BJP has 12 legislators in the 60-member assembly, while the NDPP has 21, the NPF 25, and two Independent MLA’s. In September 2021, they formed the United Democratic Alliance in order to facilitate an early resolution to the Naga political debate.
The Naga People’s Front (NPF) had planned to present its own candidate for the Rajya Sabha, but withdrew at the last minute, allowing Konyak to be chosen unopposed.
