Only two women candidates in Nagaland Assembly elections

Kohima: Only two women are contesting the February 23 Assembly elections in Nagaland where women comprise around 49 percent of the electorate in the state.

Nagaland has a total electorate of 11,93,438, out of which male voters are 6,03,933 and female voters are 5,89,505, according to figures released by the office of the Chief Electoral Officer of the state. The first Assembly election in Nagaland was held in 1964 and till the last Assembly election in 2008 no woman has emerged victorious to break the glass ceiling. Out of a total of 188 candidates trying their luck in the day after tomorrow`s election to the 60-seat Assembly, only two - Rakhila and Dr Yangerla - are women candidates and the rest are all men. Rakhila is contesting on a BJP ticket from the Tuensang Sadar-II constituency in Tuensang district, while Dr Yangerla, a medical practitioner, is contesting as an Independent from the Mokokchung Town Assembly constituency in Mokokchung district. In the last Assembly election held in 2008, four women had contested the poll, but none tasted success. PTI