Salhoutuonuo Kruse (; born 1967) is an Indian politician from

Nagaland Nagaland () is a landlocked state in the northeastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south and the Sagaing Region of Myanmar to the east. Its capital cit ...

. In 2023, She along with Hekani Jakhalu Kense became the first women from Nagaland to be elected to the

Nagaland Legislative Assembly Nagaland Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Nagaland. Nagaland became a state of India on 1 December 1963 and after election in January 1964, the first Nagaland Legislative Assembly was formed on 11 Februa ...

. She was sworn in as a Minister of Women Resource Development & Horticulture in the 5th Rio ministry, making her the first female Minister in the history of the Indian state of Nagaland. Kruse was elected from the

Western Angami Assembly constituency Western Angami Assembly constituency is one of the 60 Legislative Assembly constituencies of Nagaland state in India. It is part of Kohima District and is reserved for candidates belonging to the Scheduled Tribes. Members of the Legislative ...

as a candidate of the

Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party The Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) is a regional political party in the Indian state of Nagaland. Chingwang Konyak is the president of NDPP. The symbol of the party is a globe. The NDPP was formed by Naga People's Front rebels ...

. She previously served as the President of the Angami Women Organization.

Early life

Salhoutuonuo Kruneilie was born in 1967 to an

Angami Naga The Angamis are a major Naga ethnic group native to the Northeast Indian state of Nagaland. The Angami Nagas are predominantly settled in Kohima District, Chümoukedima District and Dimapur District of Nagaland and are also recognized as one of ...

family from Kiruphema. She did her schooling from

Ministers' Hill Baptist Higher Secondary School Ministers' Hill Baptist Higher Secondary School is a private school in Kohima, Nagaland, India providing both High school and Higher secondary school education. The school was previously known as ''Ministers' Hill Baptist English School''. Cam ...

in Kohima and later completed her graduation from

Kohima College Nagaland University is a Central University established in the state of Nagaland by an Act of Parliament by the Government of India in 1989. It is headquartered at Lumami, Zünheboto District. Two other permanent campuses are located at Meriem ...

Career

Kruse served as the President of the ''Angamimiapfü Mechü Krotho'' (now known as Angami Women Organization) from 2011 to 2014. In 2023, Kruse was elected as a candidate of the

from the

in the 2023 Nagaland Legislative Assembly election defeating Keneizhakho Nakhro, an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

candidate. She along with Hekani Jakhalu became the first ever elected women MLA from Nagaland. Her late husband Kevisekho Kruse previously contested from the same constituency and party in the

2018 Nagaland Legislative Assembly election The Nagaland Legislative Assembly election, 2018 was held on 27 February 2018 in 59 out of 60 constituencies of the Legislative Assembly of Nagaland. The scheduled election in Northern Angami II constituency did not take place as only incumbent ...

but lost to Keneizhakho Nakhro from the

Naga People's Front The Naga People's Front (NPF) is a regional political party in Nagaland, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh . It headed the Nagaland government with the Bharatiya Janata Party, as part of the Democratic Alliance of Nagaland from 2003 to 2018. NPF ...

party.

Personal life

Kruse is a Baptist Christian and she attends

Ministers' Hill Baptist Church Ministers' Hill Baptist Church is a Baptist church located in the locality of the Old Ministers' Hill Ward, Kohima in the Indian state of Nagaland. The church building was opened in 2002, although the Baptist congregation had been formed since 1 ...

in Kohima. She was married to Kevisekho Kruse. They married on 2 October 1986 and had two daughters together. He later died from complications of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

on 4 June 2021 at age 60.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kruse, Salhoutuonuo Living people Naga people 1967 births Nagaland MLAs 2023–2028 People from Kiruphema People from Khonoma People from Kohima Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party politicians