Guwahati: Vincent.H. Pala and Evalyni Kharbani who represent the Mairang constituency in Meghalaya and are both members of the United Democratic Party (UDP) have the largest wealth with over Rs146 crore and over Rs125 crore, respectively, according to the ADR report.
Over 50% of the candidates for the Meghalaya Assembly elections in 2023 are crorepatis and 6% of the candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves, according to a report from the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), a registered non-governmental organisation (NGO) working to implement electoral reforms in the nation.
ADR just reviewed the self-worn affidavits of all 375 candidates for the Meghalaya Assembly elections in 2023. Among the 375 candidates considered, 233 were affiliated with national parties, 69 with state parties, 29 with registered unrecognised parties and 44 with the candidates themselves.
According to the report, almost 10% of the candidates for the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) had disclosed major criminal convictions against them in their affidavits.
With 43 of the 60 candidates running for office being crorepatis, the National People’s Party (NPP) came out on top.
With Rs 10.68 crore in average assets and Rs 5.91 crore in assets per candidate in the Assembly elections, the NPP is in the lead.
The average asset value of the 56 BJP candidates is Rs. 2.71 crore, compared to Rs. 4.43 crore for Congress candidates and Rs. 4.95 crore for AITC candidates.
5 out of 60 candidates for the Congress, 6 out of 57 for the NPP, 1 out of 60 for the BJP and 3 out of 56 for the AITC have revealed criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.
Four candidates from the Congress party, four from the NPP, one from the BJP and two from the AITC have each filed serious criminal charges against themselves.
Political parties are required to publish comprehensive information about candidates with active criminal cases on their websites at the Central and State election levels. This information must include the nature of the offences, pertinent information like whether charges have been filed, the court involved, the case number, etc.