Hekani Jakhalu became the first female MLA in the history of Nagaland.

Hekani Jakhalu, a well-known activist and social worker, made history on Thursday by becoming the very first woman to be elected to the 60-member Nagaland Legislature.

In the race for the Dimapur III seat, the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party candidate Jakhalu, a lawyer with American education, defeated Azheto Zhimomi, a member of the Lok Janshakti Party. Out of the 183 candidates in the state, only four were female.

Jakhalu was thrilled. “I’m inundated; my team and my supporters have triumphed,” she expressed her gratitude to the public for their support.

“People desired change, so I created it.” For the past more than 17 years, I have worked in social service. “I have always worked with youth,” she remarked, identifying the factors that contributed to her success.

She added that her first objective would be to keep working with young people and women to promote their independence and turn Dimapur III into a modern district, which she claimed had been neglected for a very long period.

“I’ll work on behalf of minorities. They comprise more than half of the local population, according to Jakhalu.

Although women in Nagaland have struggled for representation in government, political parties were reluctant to take a chance. When Nagaland became a state in 1963, no woman had ever previously been elected to the Assembly.

But there are currently just two female MPs in the state, with a majority of Christians. By becoming the Unified Democratic Party’s first female member of parliament in 1977, Rano M. Shaiza made history. In the Lok Sabha elections, she had beaten the Congress candidate and then-chief minister Hokishe Sema.

Phangnon Konyak of the BJP party was chosen to serve in the Rajya Sabha almost 45 years later.