| Nyari Welly | |
| Office: | Member of the Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly from Seppa constituency |
| Term Start: | 1980 |
| Term End: | 1988 |
| Nationality: | Indian |
| Birth Date: | 1945 10, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Beyong village, Seppa Sub-Division |
| Party: | People's Party of Arunachal, Indian National Congress |
Nyari Welly (2 October 1945 - 21 October 1988[1]) was an Indian politician. She was the first woman elected to the Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly.
Welly was born in Beyong village, Seppa Sub-Division, Kameng District, and did not have any formal education.[2] Before joining politics she was a social activist.[3] 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.[1]
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).[4]
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.[5] [6] [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).[5] Welly's election victory was attributed to the influence of her husband, who was a powerful man in the area.[3]
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.[3]
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 3,419votes (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]
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.[6] Her main hobbies were gardening and knitting.[1]