ULB Elections: Rough journey ahead

The three urban organizations, namely the Association of Kohima Municipal Ward Panchayat (AKMWP), All Ward Union Mokokchung Town (AWUMT), and the Dimapur Urban Council Chairmen Federation (DUCCF) have on March 10 served a memorandum to the Chief Minister reminding him to amend or review the Nagaland Municipal Act 2001. The crux of their demand is that the sections of the Act pertaining to taxation on land and buildings and the 33% reservation of seats for women be ‘deleted’. It will be interesting to see how the new government handles this. We know how people protested the last time the government tried to conduct the ULB elections. Are we going to see similar protests again? As of today, it is only the three municipal areas that have raised their objection. Will we be seeing similar objections from the 36 other town councils? Will the Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) that spearheaded the protests in 2017 rise again? Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has already ordered the state government to conduct the ULB elections with 33% reservation of seats for women as per Article 243T of the Constitution of India.

In fact, the government has already introduced a bill to amend Article 243T to enact 50% reservation of seats for women in ULBs. It may also be recalled here that the government of Nagaland held a consultative meeting on the issue on March 9 last year with stakeholders, including mass-based civil society organizations, faith-based organizations, tribal hohos, political parties and other non-governmental organizations. A ‘collective understanding’ to conduct the ULB elections was the outcome of that meeting. However, with the three urban organizations reiterating their earlier demand once again, it seems the issue was not wholly resolved that day. As things appear, the question is now going to be whether Article 371-A or Article 243T should prevail. Should Article 243T prevail, will that set a precedent as feared by the three urban organizations? Should Article 371A prevail, will that prevent Nagaland from moving ahead with the changing times? Is it possible to find a middle path? The questions are plenty. That the ULB election is going to be a rough journey for Nagaland seems to be the only certainty.