37-Year-Old Sharingain Longkumer Elected as Speaker of Nagaland Assembly

Kohima, February 7, 2020:

Sharingain Longkumer, the youngest legislator in the Nagaland Assembly, has been elected as the Speaker of the Assembly after he beat his nearest rival, Imtiwapang Aier of the NPF, by a margin of 7 votes.

After being elected, the young Longkumer, 37, profusely thanked the House for electing him, despite the fact that he is a first-time legislator. 57 MLAs voted in the 60-member House, with Longkumer securing 32 votes, while his rival Aier secured 25 votes.

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The young MLA has also been commended by Leader of House and CM Neiphiu Rio and Leader of Opposition, TR Zeliang. Longkumer, who was consensus candidate of the Rio-led Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP), has presided over several important sessions in the early days of his political career, including the first day of the budget session held in January this year.

In August last year, Sharingain Longkumer was elected as the Deputy Speaker. Earlier in the same year, he was elected to the Nagaland Legislative Assembly from Aonglendenin the by-election in 2019 as a member of the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party.

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The post of Speaker had fallen vacant after former Speaker Vikho-o Yhoshü (68) died in a Mumbai hospital on December 30 last year.

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