ITANAGAR, Apr 4: Arunachal Pradesh has jumped 11 percent since the 2014 assembly election with 131 crorepati candidates contesting in the legislative assembly election this year.
According to the Association for Democratic Reforms’ (ADR) analysis, out of the 184 (including three unopposed) candidates, 131 (71%) have been identified as crorepatis.
In the 2014 assembly election, out of 148 candidates, 88 (60%) were crorepatis.
Based on the affidavits obtained from the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) website, the ADR puts acting chief minister and the BJP’s Mukto (Tawang district) candidate, Pema Khandu, at the top of the list of candidates with the highest declared assets, with total assets worth Rs 1,63,50,58,142.
He is closely followed by the INC’s Mebo candidate Lombo Tayeng (East Siang district) and the BJP’s Tawang (Tawang district) candidate Tsering Tashi. Tashi is Khandu’s elder brother.
Khandu has declared movable assets worth Rs 1,43,87,82,786 and immovable assets worth Rs 19,62,75,356, which totals to assets worth Rs 1,63,50,58,142.
Fielded against the acting chief minister is the monk, Thupten Kunphen of the INC, who has declared movable assets worth Rs 41,29,783, and stands at the 153rd position on the list.
The second richest candidate on the list, Tayeng, has movable assets worth Rs 1,13,52,21,594, immovable assets worth Rs 35,01,84,400, and total assets worth Rs 1,48,54,05,994.
His two competitors, Dr Dangi Perme (BJP), placed at number 113, and Shoney Pertin (NPP), placed at number 147, have total declared assets worth Rs 1,79,49,162 and Rs 49,27,831, respectively.
Tashi’s declaration shows movable assets worth Rs 97,10,97,522, immovable assets worth Rs 12,32,96,250, and total assets worth Rs 1,09,43,93,772.
At the 69th position, Tashi’s rival from the INC, Thupten Tempa, has declared assets worth Rs 4,84,03,601.
The ADR also released details of the candidates with the lowest assets.
The JD(S)’ Lekang (Namsai district) candidate, Takam Paleng, has the lowest declared asset with Rs 5,000, while the same party’s candidate for Longding-Pumao (Longding district), Wangshu Wangsu, has assets worth Rs 75,365.
Third from the bottom is the INC’s Marjum Karbak, contesting for the Liromoba (West Siang district) seat, with assets worth Rs 1,20,000.
The candidate for Lekang with the highest declared assets is the INC’s Takam Sanjoy with assets worth Rs 16,59,43,961, while Longding-Pumao’s richest candidate is Thangwang Wangham with assets worth Rs 7,41,86,103.
In Liromoba, the NPP’s candidate, Jarpum Gamlin, has declared the highest assets, worth Rs 8,54,30,178.
The INC’s Dayum Para, who is contesting for the Tali seat, has declared zero assets.
The ADR analysis also shows that 54 (90%) out of the 60 candidates from the BJP, 30 (65%) out of the 46 candidates from the INC, 21 (70%) out of the 30 candidates from the NPP, 11 (73%) out of the 15 candidates from the JD(U), 7 (58%) out of the 12 candidates from the JD(S), 5 (46%) out of the 11 independent candidates, two (22%) out of the nine candidates from the PPA, and the lone candidate (100%) of the All Indians Party have declared assets worth more than Rs 1 crore.
While the 2014 election saw average assets per candidate for 148 candidates at Rs 5.04 crore, the average asset per candidate contesting in the 2019 assembly election is Rs 9.86 crore.
Candidates declare cases
Meanwhile, 29 of the remaining 181 candidates contesting for the 57 legislative assembly seats have declared criminal cases against themselves, according to a report from the Arunachal Pradesh Election Watch and the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
The report also states that 26 candidates have declared serious criminal cases against themselves.
It states that the INC, with nine candidates out of a total of 46, has the highest number of candidates who have pending criminal cases against them, followed by the NPP (eight out of 30 candidates) and the BJP (seven out of 60 candidates).
The INC, with nine candidates, also leads the per party-wise list of candidates declaring serious criminal cases, closely followed by the NPP and the BJP with eight and four candidates, respectively.
Also, two candidates from the JD(U) – Byabang Taj (Palin) and Gumjum Haider (Dumporijo) – and one from the JD(S) -Gegong Apang (Tuting-Yingkiong) – have declared serious criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits. Also, one out of a total of 11 independent candidates has serious criminal cases pending against him.
The report further states that the INC tops the list of candidates having the maximum number of pending criminal cases against them. The party’s nine candidates have 24 criminal cases to their names, with the highest number of cases pending against its Itanagar constituency candidate Yumlam Achung.
Achung has seven pending criminal cases against him. Next to him is independent candidate from Tezu constituency, Karikho Kri, who is named in five pending criminal cases.
Also, NPP candidate Nikh Kamin, who is contesting for the Bordumsa-Diyun constituency, and the NPP’s Koloriang candidate Pani Taram have been named in four criminal cases each, while INC candidates Nuney Tayang (Tezu) and Tai Nikio (Nyapin) have five and four pending criminal cases, respectively, against them.
According to the report, nine candidates have pending cases filed against them by the special investigation cell (vigilance).
Among them are NPP candidate for Bordumsa-Diyun, Nikh Kamin, INC candidate for Palin, Takam Pario, who is named in two pending criminal cases, NPP candidate for Koloriang, Pani Taram, INC candidate for Nyapin, Tai Nikio, JD(S) candidate for Tuting-Yingkiong, Gegong Apang, NPP candidate for Seppa East, Tapuk Taku, NPP candidate for Dumporijo constituency, Paknga Bage, INC candidate for Nari-Koyu constituency, Tojir Kadu, and BJP candidate for Daporijo constituency, Tanya Soki.
