Although it is not yet officially out in public domain, there are indications that the number of seats in the Nagaland Legislative Assembly would be increased from the existing 60 to 80 following a solution to the ‘Indo-Naga political issue.’ The Chief Minister of Nagaland Neiphiu Rio has on several occasions spoken on this citing Government of India inputs. He is also reported to have said that the number of seats for Nagaland in the Parliament would be increased from 1 to 3 in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. The fact that the Chief Minister himself is speaking about it makes one believe that there must be some truth in it – unless of course he is lying or the Centre is bluffing, both of which are unlikely. Let us give the benefit of doubt to the current dispensation and assume that such a new ‘political’ arrangement is to be brought about. It would then naturally follow that a constituency delimitation exercise would have to be carried out – for both state assembly and parliamentary constituencies. For such a new arrangement to take place, the NSCN(IM) and the NNPGs must have to be taken on board of course. Meaning, it can happen only after a solution is arrived at. The NSCN(IM) and the NNPGs have come to a common understanding between them and it is hoped that a solution can be jointly worked out with the GoI. If such a scenario were to come to pass, the 14th Nagaland Legislative Assembly that is to be installed after the ensuing election will have to be either dissolved or at least an interim arrangement will have to be made to accommodate the new dispensation.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has just ruled that the Nagaland State Election Commission must notify the urban local bodies (ULB) elections and place before it the official notification by 14 March, 2023. With 33% reservation for women. This means that the municipal and town council elections will have to be held very soon after the assembly elections. There are many important issues that the people of Nagaland will be experiencing right after the ensuing assembly elections. However, the assembly and parliamentary constituency delimitation exercise in the event of a solution to the Naga political problem being worked out and the ULB elections are going to be the two major issues that the people might want to start thinking about already. The people of Mokokchung in particular need to start analyzing the two issues because they are going to affect the lives of the people and shape their reality.
Mokokchung right now has 10 state assembly constituency seats. Will the equations change in the event of a delimitation exercise being carried out post solution? Agreed, a lot has been talked about in the past but the debate was in the context of the existing 60 assembly constituency seats. What about a delimitation exercise in a post solution scenario with the likelihood of the assembly seats being increased to 80? Further, are we ready to debate and have a public discourse on the latest Supreme Court order? Mokokchung has been lagging on a lot of fronts and the acute lack of thought leaders has been deeply felt. We need our thought leaders to speak up now and mold public opinion.