Meet Hekani Jakhalu, the first woman MLA elected to the Nagaland assembly

Hekani Jakhalu, who won the Dimapur-III seat in the 2023 Nagaland Assembly elections, has become the first woman to be elected to the 60-member Nagaland Assembly. NDPP's Jakhalu defeated Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) leader Azheto Zhimomi by 1,536 votes. 

Jakhalu, 48, is a lawyer and social entrepreneur. She did her Masters in Law in 2013 from the University of San Francisco School of Law. She runs a non-governmental organization, YouthNet Nagaland, for the past two decades. 

Her NGO has been tagged as the most popular project as it helps thousands of youngsters who want to study. It also provides good business opportunities to the youths of the state. In 2018, she got the Nari Shakti Puraskar award from the President of India on International Women’s Day for her contribution to the state youth. 

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She has been banking on her outreach through YouthNet for the elections. In her poll manifesto, Jakhalu said she wants to work for Youth Development, women empowerment, minority rights, and model constituency. 

The counting for the Nagaland state assembly is underway, where State Assembly elections were held on February 27. Nagaland recorded an 85.9 per cent voter turnout for the election to its 60-member Assembly. 

The NDPP, led by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, has been in an alliance with the BJP since the last elections in 2018. The alliance, which had won 30 seats in the previous election, is currently leading on 39 and is set to retain power in Nagaland. The majority mark is 31 in the 60-seat Assembly. 

The BJP contested 20 seats, while the NDPP fought in 40, as per a seat-sharing agreement. 

Four women candidates - Hekhani Jakhaulu, Salhoutuo Kruse, Hukali Sema and Rosy Thompson - contested the Nagaland Assembly election this time. 

Salhoutuonuo Kruse, also of the NDPP, is also leading from the Western Angami constituency by a margin of over 400 votes.

Also read: Nagaland Election Results 2023: Check full list of constituency-wise winners