30% candidates in 2nd phase of Manipur polls are crorepatis

At least 30 per cent candidates in the second phase of the Manipur Assembly elections are millionaires, with the Congress topping the list as 10 of its 22 candidates (46 per cent) declared assets of over Rs 1 crore.

A total of 29 candidates are crorepatis.

According to the report prepared by the Manipur Election Watch and non-profit election watchdog Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) by analysing 98 candidates, five candidates have wealth over Rs 5 crore, eight over Rs 2 crore and 34 over Rs 50 lakh.

Congress candidate from Ukhrul, Alfred Kanngam S. Arthur is the richest candidate in the Manipur second phase polls -- where 22 seats will see polling on March 8 -- declaring total assets of over Rs 36 crore.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has taken second place as eight of its candidates (36 per cent) are crorepatis.

In the list of crorepatis, Naga Peoples' Front has five candidates while the Manipur National Democratic Front and National People's Party (NPP) have one candidate each.

The average assets per candidate were found to be Rs 1.33 crore. There is no candidate who has declared zero assets.

Interestingly, only one of the 98 candidates has a criminal background.

The report shows a total of 11 candidates have not declared their PAN details while 11 candidates have declared a total annual income of more than Rs 15 lakhs.

As many as 60 candidates have not declared income tax details, of which 18 have declared assets of over Rs 1 crore.

When it comes to educational background, 24 candidates have declared their education qualification to be between Class five and Class 12, while 72 candidates have declared having an educational qualification of graduate and above and one candidate has declared himself as just literate.

A total of 46 candidates have declared their age to be between 25 and 50 years while 52 candidates have declared their age to be between 51 and 80 years.

--IANS

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