The Naga youth council elections: a village democracy that never sleeps
In Nagaland's villages, the youth council is the training ground for everything — including how to argue well.
In Nagaland’s villages, the youth council — the bachelors’ association that keeps the water running, the village clean and the festivals honest — is also a school of politics.
Council elections are contested with the vigour of national ones, and the campaigns teach lessons that stay with their candidates.
State-level politicians are invariably council alumni: ‘Everyone learns to govern by first governing a village.’