Millionaires rule the roost in Arunachal elections
October 8th, 2009 - 11:45 am ICT by IANS
Itanagar, Oct 8 (IANS) More than 40 percent of the 157 candidates for next week’s assembly elections in Arunachal Pradesh are millionaires, with the richest being a debutant school dropout worth more than Rs.2 billion (Rs.200 crore).
According to figures compiled by the National Election Watch (NEW) and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) from affidavits filed by the contesting candidates, 63 candidates are millionaires.
Congress party candidate for the Palin assembly constituency, Takam Tagar, is the richest with declared assets worth Rs.2.09 billion.
Tagar, 34, is the youngest candidate and is the brother of sitting Congress Lok Sabha MP Takam Sanjay.
Elections to the 60-member legislature are scheduled for Oct 13, although voting would be for just 57 seats with three candidates already declared elected unopposed.
Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu and two more ruling Congress members were declared elected unopposed - sitting MLA Tsewang Dhondup from Tawang constituency and debutant Jambey Tashi from the Lumla seat.
Khandu was elected unopposed from the Mukto constituency in Tawang district, bordering China, in the 1999 and 2004 assembly elections as well.
The chief minister is the third richest candidate in the list with total declared assets worth Rs.220 million, while former Rajya MP and Congress party candidate from the Doimukh assembly seat is the second richest with assets worth a little more than Rs.240 million.
An interesting feature of the list of candidates is that all political parties have given tickets to the rich - a trend that is visible from the affidavits filed by the candidates along with their nomination papers.
Of the 60 Congress candidates, 37 are millionaires.
Among the other millionaire candidates, eight are from the Nationalist Congress Party, seven from the Trinamool Congress, six from the Bharatiya Janata Party, and one is an independent.
The Janata Dal-United with three candidates is the only party not to have a millionaire in the list.
Money plays an important role in any election in Arunachal Pradesh with political parties known to host community feasting during the polls to woo voters.
- Congress wins Arunachal polls, set for second term (Fourth Lead) - Oct 22, 2009
- Moderate to brisk polling in Arunachal Pradesh (Lead) - Oct 13, 2009
- Voting begins in Arunachal Pradesh - Oct 13, 2009
- 87 'criminal' candidates in Bengal polls' fourth, fifth phases - Apr 28, 2011
- Congress sweeps Arunachal polls, Trinamool makes surprise debut (Night Lead) - Oct 22, 2009
- Voting ends in Arunachal, 70 percent polling recorded (Evening Lead) - Oct 13, 2009
- Congress set to sweep Arunachal Pradesh polls (Third Lead) - Oct 22, 2009
- 48 candidates in Bengal second-phase face criminal charges - Apr 16, 2011
- Stage set for Arunachal Pradesh poll - Oct 12, 2009
- Congress favourite to win in Arunachal Pradesh - Oct 10, 2009
- Congress emerges frontrunner in Arunachal Pradesh - Oct 20, 2009
- 31 'crorepati' candidates in third phase of Bengal polls - Apr 22, 2011
- PM condoles demise of Dorjee Khandu - May 05, 2011
- Tamil Nadu Congress chief, wife file nominations for same seat - Mar 28, 2011
- Arunachal chief minister wins poll unopposed third time - Sep 27, 2009
Tags: arunachal pradesh, assembly elections, assembly seat, bharatiya janata party, chief minister, congress candidates, congress members, democratic reforms, Lok Sabha, member legislature, national election, nationalist congress party, nomination papers, party candidate, rs 2, rs 200, school dropout, tagar, tashi, trinamool congress