104 multimillionaires are contesting Mizoram polls, 9 face criminal cases

More than half of the 209 candidates contesting the November 28 Mizoram Assembly polls are multimillionaires and nine of the nominees face criminal cases.

According to an analysis by election watchdog, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), released on Thursday, a total of 104 candidates are multimillionaires.

The Mizo National Front (MNF) leads the list with 35, followed by the Congress with 33 and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with 17 such candidates.

MNF's Lalrinenga Sailo contesting from Hachhek in Mamit district is the richest candidate with assets in excess of Rs 1 billion.

The average assets per candidate contesting the polls is Rs 31.1 million as compared to Rs 23 million in the 2013 polls.

Only nine candidates face criminal cases with three each belonging to the Congress and the MNF and two from the BJP.

On the education front, 142 candidates are graduates or above, 60 are school dropouts and one an illiterate.

Only 18 or merely nine per cent of the candidates are female.

Elections to the 40-member Assembly will be held on November 28 in the predominantly Christian population state where the Congress has been in power since it became a full-fledged state in 1987, except for 10 years -- 1998 to 2008.