Nagaland gets 1st-ever woman minister; Rio, Sangma sworn as CMs

Salhoutuono Kruse and Hekani Jakhalu created history last week when they became the first women to be elected to the state assembly since Nagaland’s creation in 1963

Salhoutuono Kruse on Tuesday became the first woman minister in Nagaland’s history as she was sworn in along with chief minister Neiphiu Rio, 72, and nine other ministers in Kohima in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Salhoutuono Kruse. (Twitter)

Hekani Jakhalu and Kruse created history last week when they became the first women to be elected to the state assembly since Nagaland’s creation in 1963.

Rio took the oath of office as the chief minister for the fifth time, days after his Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) and ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) returned to power in the state last week by winning 37 of 60 assembly seats.

Governor La Ganesan also swore in Yanthungo Patton (BJP) and TR Zeliang (NDPP) as Rio’s deputies. NDPP has got seven berths in the council of ministers and the BJP five.

Union home minister Amit Shah, BJP chief JP Nadda, and Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma were among others, who attended the oath-taking ceremony.

Modi earlier arrived in the northeast for a two-day visit to attend the inauguration ceremonies of the new governments in Meghalaya, Nagaland, and Tripura.

He first attended the ceremony where Conrad Sangma was on Tuesday sworn in as the Meghalaya chief minister for the second successive term in the presence of Nadda and Shah.

Governor Phagu Chauhan administered the oath of office to Sangma, his two deputies Prestone Tynsong and Sniawbhaland Dhar, and nine other ministers. M Ampareen Lyngdoh was the lone woman minister to be inducted.

The BJP and Sangma’s National People’s Party (NPP) contested the assembly polls last month separately but later got into a post-poll alliance to form the new government.

The NPP improved its tally to 25 from the 20 seats it won in 2018 polls but fell short of the majority in the 60-member assembly. The BJP managed to secure two seats.

On Wednesday, Modi will visit Agartala to participate in the oath-taking ceremony of the BJP-led government in Tripura.

The BJP on Monday staked claim to form the government in Tripura after Manik Saha was re-elected as the party’s legislative leader.

Modi will later fly back to Guwahati on Wednesday and chair a meeting of the Group of Ministers. The progress and implementation of developmental schemes in Assam will be discussed at the meeting.