Kohima:

Today’s a big day in Nagaland’s political history. The first-ever urban local body elections with 33 per cent reservation for women will be held today. There is however no election in eastern Nagaland region due to a poll boycott called by the ENPO.

Urban local body elections with women’s reservation had been a thorny issue in Nagaland. In 2017, an attempt to hold elections with 33 per cent women’s reservation had sparked violence.

The Chief Minister then had to resign and the state government had to roll back its poll plans.

Women groups had approached the Supreme Court, which ordered to hold the local body polls with 33 per cent reservation for women.

A total of 523 candidates are in the fray across 25 urban local bodies, including three municipal and 21 town councils. There are a total of 198 women candidates. Initially, 238 women had filed nominations but 23 of them from the eastern region withdrew in view of the poll boycott call by the Eastern Nagaland People’s Organisation (ENPO) over the pending creation of autonomous Frontier Nagaland Territory.

Six districts under ENPO with a total of 14 town councils will not participate in the local polls.

A total of 17 women and 47 men were declared elected unopposed by the State Election Commission (SEC) last week. The commission on Tuesday said voting would take place in 420 polling stations under 214 wards with 223,636 voters.

Nagaland enacted its Municipal Act in 2001, and the first urban local body elections were held in 2004 without reservation for women.

The government issued a notification for the next urban local body polls in 2012, but they could not be held following objections from tribal bodies, which opposed the quota and certain clauses in the Municipal Act.

In September the same year, the assembly passed a resolution to exempt the state from the Constitution’s Article 243T, which deals with the quota for women, but revoked it in 2016.

In 2017, the state government attempted to hold polls with 33 per cent reservation for women, but it backfired. Protesters attacked and set ablaze government buildings in parts of the state. Powerful tribal organisations contended that reservation for women was an infringement on Naga customary laws, as enshrined in Article 371(A) of the Constitution, which protects the state’s traditional way of life.

In the wake of the violence, the then Chief Minister TR Zeliang had to resign, and the state government declared the poll process null and void. Later, a few women’s organisations moved the high court and then the Supreme Court.

Following this, the Supreme Court directed the Nagaland State Election Commission to notify the polls and hold them with a 33 per cent quota for women.