Nyari Welly

Nyari Welly
Member of the Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly from Seppa constituency
In office
1980–1988
Personal details
Born (1945-10-02)October 2, 1945
Beyong village, Seppa Sub-Division
Died October 21, 1988(1988-10-21)
Nationality Indian
Political party People's Party of Arunachal, Indian National Congress

Nyari Welly (b. October 2, 1945, Beyong village, Seppa Sub-Division, Kameng District, d. October 21, 1988[1][2]) was an Indian politician. She was the first woman elected to the Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly.

Social activist

Welly did not have any formal education.[3] Before joining politics she was a social activist.[4] She served as president of the Women Welfare Centre, Seppa Branch between 1970 and 1974. In 1976 she worked as Lady Organiser of the Seppa branch of the Congress Sevadal.[2]

1978 election

Welly was one of two female candidates in the fray in the 1978 Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly election (out of a total of 86 candidates). She stood as the People's Party of Arunachal candidate in the Seppa constituency. She finished in second place, with 1,649 votes (25.44% of the votes in the constituency).[5]

1980 election

She again contested the Seppa seat in the 1980 Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly election. She stood as a PPA candidate. She won the seat, obtaining 2,817 votes (43.28%) and becoming the first elected female Member of the Legislative Assembly in the state.[6][1][7] However, she wasn't the first woman to sit in the Assembly as Sibo Kai had been a nominated member of the 1978 Assembly.[8] Welly defeated Modi Sengi from the Indian National Congress (Indira) and Goumseng Rino from the Indian National Congress (Urs).[6] Welly's election victory was attributed to the influence of her husband, who was a powerful man in the area.[4]

In the Assembly Welly confronted issues like child marriage, polygamy and bride price. When she brought a Bill to outlaw these practices, male members of the Assembly protested loudly.[4]

1984 election

Welly retained the Seppa seat in the 1984 Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly election. This time she stood as an Indian National Congress candidate. She obtained 3,419 votes (35.35%), narrowly defeating the independent candidate Mape Dada by a margin of 43 votes. In the 1984 election a second woman was elected to the Assembly, Kamoli Mossang from the Noadihing Nampong constituency.[9]

Personal life

Welly belonged to the Nyishi.[7] She was the mother of Atum Welly, who as of 2013 served as Health and Family Minister in the Arunachal Pradesh state government.[1] Her main hobbies were gardening and knitting.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Echo of Arunachal. First elected woman MLA remembered
  2. 1 2 3 Arunachal News, Vol. 9, Eds. 1–4. 1980. pp. 27-28
  3. ↑ Mandal, Ramkrishna, and Minto Ete. Women in North East India: Role and Status of Arunachal Women. New Delhi: Mittal Publications, 2010. p. 58
  4. 1 2 3 Johsi, H. G. Arunachal Pradesh: Past and Present. New Delhi, India: Mittal Publications, 2005. pp. 122-123
  5. ↑ Election Commission of India. STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 1978 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ARUNACHAL PRADESH
  6. 1 2 Election Commission of India. STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 1980 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ARUNACHAL PRADESH
  7. 1 2 National Seminar on "Ethnic Groups of North East India: Problems Prospects", Indira Barua, Sarthak Sengupta, and Deepanjana Dutta Das. Ethnic Groups, Cultural Continuities, and Social Change in North East India. New Delhi: Mittal Publications, 1999. p. 259
  8. ↑ Arunachal Front. Arunachal to ink political history
  9. ↑ Election Commission of India. STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 1984 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ARUNACHAL PRADESH
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