Altogether 27 candidates in fray in the Meghalaya assembly elections have declared assets worth more than Rs one crore, while no cases of criminal antecedents have been reported by the candidates in their affidavits.According to a survey conducted by the Delhi-based Association for Democratic Reforms (ADM), the state of Meghalaya has stood as an exception as compared to other states of the country, none of the 331 candidates in the fray for the March three assembly election have any criminal background.The report of the survey, which was released today, said in all 27 candidates have declared assets worth more than Rs one crore. Among these are 10 from Congress, seven from NCP, four from United Democratic Party, four independents and one each from Hill State Peoples Democratic Party and Meghalaya Democratic Party.The richest candidate is the state is Health minister Debora Mark with a total asset of Rs 112,36,87,492.Also among the crorepattis are NCP general secretary PA Sangma, Shillong-based media baron Manas Choudhury, deputy chief minister and UDP president Donkupar Roy, deputy chief minister Mukul Sangma and Congress minister Nehlang Lyngdoh.Interestingly, three-time chief minister D D Lapang's name is not in the list of crorepattis.Among the major political parties, average declared assets of Indian National Congress (INC) candidate are worth Rs 274.95 lakh, NCP Rs 122.67 lakh, UDP Rs 99.98 lakh, MDP Rs 45.49 lakh and BJP Rs 7.68 lakh.In all, 16 candidates have declared liabilities more than Rs 5 lakh, with BJP MLA AL Hek leading the list with Rs 57,72,620 lakh liabilities.Interestingly, only seven candidates have mentioned their PAN cards. Of these, three are from Congress, one from BJP and three independents.On the education front, altogether 141 candidates out of total 331 candidates are graduates and above, while 19 candidates have not completed their schooling.National Coordinator of the ADM Pawan Rana said the NGO had conducted such surveys in other states after the Supreme Court verdict, which paved the way for conducting electoral reforms.As per the verdict it became necessary for disclosure of criminal background and other details by the candidates before the elections.Rana said the report was compiled after studying the affidavits filed with the EC.
