- Nagaland’s State Election Commission notified the schedule of elections to the State’s Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) across three municipal councils and 36 town councils.
- Nagaland has been the only State where 33% of the seats or wards in the ULBs have not been reserved for women as mandated by clause IV of the 74th Amendment to the Constitution of India.
- Due to the opposition from the Naga hohos (traditional apex tribal bodies) who argued that such a quota would violate the special provisions granted by Article 371A of the Constitution to Nagaland.
- The first and only civic body election in Nagaland was held in 2004 without any reservation of seats for women.
- The State Assembly had passed a resolution to exempt Nagaland from Article 243T of the Constitution which is related to the reservation for women. It was revoked in November 2016 led to violence.
- The Nagaland Municipal Act of 2023 did away with the reservation for the chairperson’s post and retained the 33% quota to pave the way for the ULB polls.
- Article 371A insulates the religious and social practices of the Nagas from any Act of Parliament apart from the customary law and procedure and ownership and transfer of land and its resources.
Dig Deeper: Read the detailed provisions of Article 371A and Article 243T
