Kohima Mar 31 PTI S Phangnon Konyak was on Thursday elected unopposed as the Rajya Sabha member from Nagaland With the tenure of incumbent Rajya Sabha MP from Nagaland K G Kenye ending on April 2 the election was scheduled to be held on Thursday Returning Officer Biennial Election to the Council of States Khruohituonuo Rio informed that as there was only one candidate till the last date for filing nominations no poll was conducted Therefore Konyak has been declared duly elected unopposed to fill up the vacancy in the Rajya Sabha for the State of Nagaland she said She is the first woman from the state to get a berth in Parliaments Upper House Konyak the president of BJP Nagaland Mahila Morcha who stood as the consensus candidate of the ruling United Democratic Alliance UDA is also the first Bharatiya Janata Party BJP member from Nagaland to be sent to Parliament S Phangnon Konyak sponsored by the BJP has been declared duly elected uncontested to fill the seat in the Council of States Rajya Sabha from Nagaland State the term of which is due to expire on 2nd April 2022 chief electoral officer V Shashank Shekhar said in a press release In the 60-member assembly NDPP has 21 MLAs NPF 25 BJP 12 and two Independent MLAs all of whom joined hands in September 2021 to form UDA for facilitating an early solution to the vexed Naga political dialogue Congratulating Phangnon Konyak on being elected unopposed Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio expressed confidence that she will represent Nagaland state exceptionally well Rio also wished her the best for a successful tenure Its a great journey for any women of Nagaland its historical said BJP Nagaland president and cabinet minister Temjen Imna Along Konyak is in Delhi and could not be reached for comments PTI NBS JRC JRC

Kohima Mar 21 PTI BJPs S Phangnon Konyak is all set to become the first woman Rajya Sabha member from Nagaland as no other candidate filed nomination for the March 31 election to the lone seat from the state on Monday which was the last dayKonyak the consensus candidate of the ruling United Democratic Alliance UDA will also be the first BJP member from Nagaland to be sent to Parliament Naga Peoples Front NPF which had expressed strong determination to field a candidate despite being a part of the UDA -- which runs an opposition-less government in the state backed out at the last momentIn the 60-member assembly NDPP has 21 MLAs NPF 25 BJP 12 and there are two Independent MLAs all of whom joined hands in September 2021 to form UDA for facilitating an early solution to the vexed Naga political dialogueOn Saturday NPF president Shurhozelie Liezietsu had written to its legislature party to consider nominating its working president and former home minister Thenucho Tunyi for the electionHowever the working committee and the legislative wing of the NPF failed to come to a conclusion till Sunday party sources saidOn the letter by Liezietsu NPFs legislature party secretary Chumben Murry said The UDA government was formed on the understanding of pursuing Naga political issue for a negotiated solution at the earliest Consequent upon which one of the NPF MLA was inducted in the Cabinet along with chairman UDAUnder the given situation the NPF cannot file nomination to the Rajya Sabha election which will tantamount to withdrawal from the coalition government of UDA As NPF refrained from filing nomination Konyak -- the BJP womens wings state president -- was the only candidate to have filed nomination thus securing her seat without a contestShe will also be the second Naga woman parliamentarianSince statehood in 1963 Nagaland got only one woman parliamentarian Rano M Shaiza who was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1977 The state never had a woman MLAThe tenure of the incumbent Rajya Sabha member from Nagaland KG Kenye of NPF ends on April 2Speaking to reporters an elated Konyak expressed gratitude to the BJP for nominating her BJP is a party which believes in women empowerment and there is a lot of hope in the party she saidAsked about her priorities as the first woman Rajya Sabha member from the state she said she would decide on it after deliberating with the elected representatives of the stateWomen comprise 50 percent of the electorate While Naga women have been very actively involved in politics but were not forthcoming to contest the elections she said urging them to come forward to fight electionsBJP Nagaland president Temjen Imna Along said that his party got the Rajya Sabha seat as part of an agreement with NDPP ahead of the 2018 assembly electionsWe look forward to working more for women empowerment in the days to come said Along adding that there were nine ticket hopefuls but only the woman candidate was selected by the partys central leadership PTI NBS SOM SOM

Kohima Mar 9 PTI Nagaland is likely to get a woman Rajya Sabha MP for the first time as a coalition of the NDPP and the BJP having 35 MLAs in the 60-member Assembly nominated the saffron partys Mahila Morcha president S Phangnon Konyak as the candidate for the election to the states lone seat to the Upper House of Parliament The Naga Peoples Front with 25 members held a meeting on Saturday to decide whether to support Konyak or field its own candidate but it remained inconclusive NPF secretary general and spokesperson Achumbemo Kikon told PTI The party will hold another round of meeting on Sunday However even if the NPF fields its candidate the NDPP-BJP combine has more MLAs and its nominee is likely to win Konyak is yet to file her nomination Since Nagaland got statehood in 1963 it had got only one woman Parliamentarian Rano M Shaiza who was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1977 as an Independent Candidate The state Assembly has never had a woman MLA A candidate has to file nomination papers by 3 pm on Monday Returning Officer for the election Khruohituonuo Rio said The Rajya Sabha poll will be held on March 31 and votes will be counted on the same day The tenure of the incumbent member from Nagaland to the Upper House K G Kenye ends on April 2 MLAs in the 60-member assembly will participate in the Rajya Sabha election as members of the Upper House of Parliament are elected by legislators in state assemblies It is an election through proportional representation The Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party NDPP and the BJP had fought the 2018 state election together and won 21 and 12 seats respectively They formed the government and got the support of two Independent MLAs The NPF joined the ruling dispensation in September last year and formed the United Democratic Alliance UDA an opposition-less government in the state Chief Minister and NDPP leader Neiphiu Rio said the choice of a woman candidate of the BJP was purely on the party line We have an alliance and the NDPP respects its alliance partner he told reporters PTI NBS NN NN