Mmhonlümo Kikon
Mmhonlümo Kikon is an Indian politician, scholar, poet, and social worker from Nagaland. He was a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party and was the member of the Nagaland Legislative Assembly from Bhandari Constituency in Wokha District. Kikon was also a National Spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party until his resignation from the party.
Kikon has published two books of poems since 2018. He completed his master's degree in English Literature from Delhi University. He is also an ASPEN Fellow.
A former Minister in the Government of Nagaland, he also served in the position of Advisor to the Government of Nagaland on Information Technology and Communication, New & Renewable Energy, Science & Technology. He was given additional responsibility as the Prabhari of Mizoram state of the BJP. He was defeated in the 2023 Nagaland Legislative Assembly election by Achumbemo Kikon of the NPF.
Early life
Mmhonlümo Kikon was born in Kohima, Nagaland. Kikon completed his schooling from Don Bosco School, Kohima and Kohima Science College. He further received his undergraduate and master's degrees from the University of Delhi. He has been a keen football player right from school to university representing the college and school where he studied. Ever since his college days, he was extremely focused and engaged in working for the welfare of the society at large. He was the co-founder of the Nagaland Chapter Chair of Young Indians of the CII and had a short stint with a publishing firm in Delhi before entering social work and active politics.By the year 2006, Kikon had founded an NGO called the DICE foundation, which focused primarily on the three key areas of environmental policy, sustainable development and rural women livelihood. With an aim to push for civil society engagements with the Government of India on the various conflicts and development challenges in the Northeast, he has been instrumental in forming regional coalitions among civil society leaders and young leaders from diverse fields from all the Northeast states and communities.
Kikon has published 2 books of poems under his name. Indian Olympic boxer and Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, Mary Kom formally released the book on "The Village Empire" written by Mmhonlümo Kikon at her residence in New Delhi. He has also travelled extensively to European and Asian Countries attending seminars and workshops on international relations, Climate change and sustainable Development.
In 2023, Vintage India published His Majesty’s Headhunters, a work on the history of Northeast India authored by Mmhonlümo Kikon.
Political career
Kikon first stood for elections from the Bhandari Assembly constituency in the 2008 Nagaland elections as a Nationalist Congress Party candidate. He lost to Wochumo Kithan of the Naga People's Front by 1758 votes. Kikon was then elected to the Nagaland Legislative Assembly from the Bhandari constituency in the year 2013 on a NCP ticket. He defeated his nearest rival Achumbemo Kikon, an independent candidate, with a small margin of 254 votes. After winning four seats in the elections, NCP decided to support Rio's DAN government in the state. He was appointed the chairperson of MARCOFED. For the 2014 Indian general election, Kikon was appointed the party's observer for the states of Northeast India.Kikon was elected for a second term in the 2018 Nagaland Legislative Assembly election from the Bhandari seat. He defeated Achumbemo, once again with a small margin of 312 votes. This time Mmhonlümo fought on a BJP ticket, and Achumbemo on an NPF ticket.
In his first term, Kikon served as a Parliamentary Secretary for Skill development and Labour, and then served for another six months as a Cabinet Minister for Geology and Mining and Border Affairs. He was appointed the State Election Officer of the BJP for Nagaland state in 2016.
During his second term, Kikon was the Advisor to the Government of Nagaland on Information and Technology, Science & Technology, and New & Renewable Energy. In the year 2018, he was appointed the Chief Whip of the BJP Legislature Party in the Nagaland Legislative Assembly. Kikon was also featured among the Top 50 MLAs in India in a survey conducted by the magazine ‘Fame India’. In 2020, Kikon was appointed a National Spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party. In addition to this, he was also given the responsibility of Prabhari or state in-charge of Mizoram.
Kikon lost the Bhandari seat in the 2023 Nagaland Legislative Assembly election to Achumbemo by a margin of 3589 votes.