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Phangnon Konyak becomes Nagaland's first woman MP to preside over Rajya Sabha, PM Modi says ‘very proud’
S Phangnon Konyak also holds the title of being the first woman to be elected to RS from Nagaland.
S Phangnon Konyak became the first woman member from Nagaland to preside over Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. The BJP leader broke another record last week when she became the first ever woman member of Rajya Sabha (RS) to be appointed to the panel of vice-chairpersons.
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She also holds the title of being the first woman to be elected to RS from Nagaland and only the second woman from the northeastern state to be elected to either house of the Parliament or the state assembly.
Konyak expressed her pride and gratitude in a tweet, "Immensely privileged, humbled and overwhelmed…Happy that it was a productive one with The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Fifth Amendment) Bill, 2022, having been passed by the House.
Read: Nagaland scripts history in assembly poll, elects 2 women for first time
She noted that women were being given ‘respect and space in political leadership’ under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and also thanked RS Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar for this opportunity. Retweeting her post, Modi called it a ‘very proud moment’.
Dhankhar nominated Konyak and three other women members -- P T Usha, Fauzia Khan (NCP) and Sulata Deo (BJD) -- to the panel of vice-chairpersons. Notably, all the women nominated to the panel are first term parliamentarians.
This is the first time in the history of the Upper House that equal representation has been accorded to women members in the panel of vice-chairpersons, the statement said.
P.T. Usha, a renowned athlete and Padma Shri awardee, was nominated to RS in 2022.
Fauzia Khan, elected to the RS in 2020, is a Nationalist Congress Party leader. Sulata Deo belongs to Biju Janata Dal and was elected to RS in 2022.
V Vijayasai Reddy, Ghanshyam Tiwari, L Hanumanthaiah and Sukhendu Sekhar Ray are the other panel members.
Both Houses of Parliament have been in a logjam over Manipur situation since the start of the Monsoon session on July 20. Dhankhar on Tuesday interacted with MPs from various parties in an attempt to break the deadlock.
(With inputs from agencies)
