Press Release: Manipur Assembly Elections, 2022: Consolidated Analysis of Criminal Background, Financial, Education, Gender and other details of Candidates - Phase 1 and 2

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Feb 26, 2022, 1:59:06 AM2/26/22

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Press Release

26th February, 2022

Dear Friends,

The Manipur Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) have analysed the self-sworn affidavits of all 265 candidates, who are contesting in the Manipur Assembly Elections Phase I and II. Out of 265 candidates analysed, 161 are from National parties, 57 are from State parties, 17 are from registered unrecognized parties and 30 candidates are contesting independently.

The full reports in English and Hindi can be accessed here: https://adrindia.org/content/manipur-assembly-elections-2022phase-1-and-2analysis-criminal-background-financial-education

Summary and Highlights

Party	Total Contesting Candidates	Total Number of Analysed Candidates	candidates with declared Criminal Cases	% of candidates with declared criminal cases	candidates with declared serious criminal cases	% of candidates with declared serious criminal cases	No of Crorepatis	Percentage of Crorepati Candidates
National Parties	161	161	33	20%	24	15%	103	64%
State Parties	57	57	12	21%	10	18%	30	53%
Registered Unrecognized Party	17	17	2	12%	2	12%	2	12%
Independent	30	30	6	20%	5	17%	8	27%
Total	265	265	53	20%	41	15%	143	54%

Table: Party Category Wise Details

Phase Wise Summary of Candidates

Phase	No. of contesting candidates	No. of Candidates analysed	No. of Constituencies	No. of Candidates with Criminal Cases	% of Candidates with Criminal Cases	No. of Candidates with Serious Criminal Cases	% of Candidates with Serious Criminal Cases	No. of Crorepati Candidates	% of Crorepati Candidates	Average Assets (Rs. In crores )	Date of Poll
1	173	173	38	37	21%	27	16%	91	53%	2.51	27^th February, 2022
2	92	92	22	16	17%	14	15%	52	57%	2.61	3^rd March, 2022
Total	265	265	60	53	20%	41	15%	143	54%	2.55	-

Table: Phase wise summary of candidates

Criminal Background

Candidates with Criminal Cases: Out of the 265 candidates analysed in Manipur Assembly elections 2022, 53 (20%) candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves. In 2017 Manipur Assembly Elections, out of 265 candidates analysed, 9(3%) had declared criminal cases against themselves.

Candidates with Serious Criminal Cases: 41(15%) have declared serious criminal cases. In 2017 Manipur Assembly Elections, 4 (2%) candidates had declared serious criminal cases against themselves.

Figure: Comparative analysis of Candidates with declared Criminal Cases: 2017 vs 2022

Party wise Candidates with Criminal Cases: Among the major parties,11(29%) out of 38 candidates analysed from JD(U), 12(23%) out of 53 candidates analysed from INC, 13 (22%) out of 60 candidates analysed from BJP and 5 (13%) out of 38 candidates analysed from NPP have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.

Party wise Candidates with Serious Criminal Cases: Among the major parties,9(24%) out of 38 candidates analysed from JD(U), 8(15%) out of 53 candidates analysed from INC, 11 (18%) out of 60 candidates analysed from BJP and 3 (8%) out of 38 candidates analysed from NPP have declared serious criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.

Figure: Party Wise Percentage of Candidates with Criminal Cases

Candidates with declared cases related to crime against women: 5 candidates have declared cases related to crime against women. Out of 5 candidates 1 candidate has declared case related to rape (IPC Section-376).

Candidates with declared cases related to murder: 2 candidates have declared cases related to murder (IPC Section-302) against themselves.

Candidates with declared cases related to attempt to murder: 7 candidates have declared cases related to Attempt to murder (IPC Section-307) against themselves.

Red Alert Constituencies*: 5(8%) out of 60 constituencies are Red alert constituencies. Red alert constituencies are those where 3 or more contesting candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves.

The directions of the Supreme Court have had no effect on the political parties in selection of candidates in the Manipur Assembly Elections 2022 as they have again followed their old practice of giving tickets to around 20% candidates with criminal cases. All major parties contesting in Manipur assembly elections 2022 have given tickets to 13 % to 29 % candidates who have declared criminal cases against themselves. The Supreme Court in its directions dated 13th February, 2020 had specifically instructed political parties to give reasons for such selection and why other individuals without criminal antecedents could not be selected as candidates. As per these mandatory guidelines, the reasons for such selection has to be with reference to qualifications, achievements and merit of the candidate concerned. During the recent 6 State Assembly elections held in 2020-21, it was observed that political parties gave unfounded and baseless reasons like popularity of the person, does good social work, cases are politically motivated etc. These are not sound and cogent reasons for fielding candidates with tainted backgrounds. This data clearly shows that political parties have no interest in reforming the electoral system and our democracy will continue to suffer at the hands of lawbreakers who become lawmakers.

Financial Background

Figure: Share of Wealth among the Contesting Candidates

Share of wealth among candidates: The share of wealth amongst the candidates contesting in the Manipur assembly elections 2022 is as follows:

Value of assets (Rs.)	Number of candidates	Percentage of Candidates
5 crores and above	34	13%
2 crores to 5 crores	60	23%
50 lakhs to 2 crores	98	37%
10 lakhs to 50 lakhs	46	17%
less than 10 lakhs	27	10%

Table: Share of wealth amongst contesting candidates

Crorepati Candidates: Out of the 265 candidates, 143(54%) are crorepatis. In the 2017 Manipur Assembly Elections, out of 265 candidates, 83(31%) were crorepatis.

Figure: Comparative Analysis of Crorepati Candidates: 2017 Vs 2022

Party wise Crorepati Candidates: The role of money power in our elections is evident from the fact that all major political parties give tickets to wealthy candidates. Among the major parties 8(80%) out of 10 candidates analysed from NPF, 27(71%) out of 38 candidates analysed from NPP, 41(68%) out of 60 candidates analysed from BJP, 30(57%) out of 53 candidates analysed from INC and 19(50%) out of 38 candidates analysed from JD(U) have declared assets valued more than Rs 1 crore.

Figure: Party Wise Percentage of Crorepati Candidates

Average assets: The average of assets per candidate contesting in the Manipur Assembly Elections 2022 is Rs 2.55 Crores.

Party wise average assets: Among major parties, the average assets per candidate for 10 NPF candidates analysed is Rs. 3.81 Crores, 38 NPP candidates analysed is Rs 3.20 Crores, 53 INC candidates have average assets of Rs 3.14 Crores, 60 BJP candidates have average assets of Rs 2.54 Crores and 38 JD(U) candidates have average assets worth Rs. 2.38 Crores.

High asset candidates: The details of top 3 candidates with highest declared assets, contesting in the Manipur Assembly Elections 2022 are given below:

S.No.	Name	District	Constituency	Party	Movable Assets (Rs)	Immovable Assets (Rs)	Total Assets (Rs)	PAN Given
1	Alfred Kanngam S. Arthur	Ukhrul	Ukhrul (St)	INC	1,58,41,471	49,89,00,000	51,47,41,471 51 Crore+	Y
2	Sapam Nishikant Singh	Imphal West	Keisamthong	IND	23,36,33,893	5,94,71,487	29,31,05,380 29 Crore+	Y
3	Khombongmayum Suresh Singh	Imphal West	Uripok	JD(U)	16,73,82,030	2,22,12,000	18,95,94,030 18 Crore+	Y

Table: Top three candidates with highest declared assets

Zero assets candidates: There are 2 candidates who have declared zero assets. The details of these candidates is given below:

S.No.	Name	District	Constituency	Party	Movable Assets (Rs)	Immovable Assets (Rs)	Total Assets (Rs)	PAN Given
1	Kh. David Maring	Chandel	Tengnoupal (St)	Republican Party of India (Athawale)	0	0	0	Y
2	Ningthoujam Popilal Singh	Imphal West	Sekmai (Sc)	NCP	0	0	0	Y

Table: Candidates with declared zero assets

Low assets candidates: The details of three candidates with lowest assets (excluding zero assets candidate) are as follows:

S.No.	Name	District	Constituency	Party	Movable Assets (Rs)	Immovable Assets (Rs)	Total Assets (Rs)	PAN Given
1	Thangkhangin	Churachandpur	Thanlon (St)	Lok Janshakti Party(Ram Vilas)	13,000	0	13,000 13 Thou+	Y
2	Sapam Kangleipal Meitei	Imphal East	Lamlai	IND	34,975	0	34,975 34 Thou+	Y
3	Md Irshad Hussain	Thoubal	Lilong	IND	43,866	0	43,866 43 Thou+	Y

Table: Candidates with declared lowest assets

· Candidates with high liabilities: 149(56%) candidates have declared liabilities in their affidavits. The details of top three candidates with highest liabilities are given below:

S.No.	Name	District	Constituency	Party	Total Assets(Rs)	Liabilities (Rs)	PAN Given
1	Khanthang Tonsing	Churachandpur	Thanlon (St)	NPP	17,92,53,459 17 Crore+	4,32,07,325 4 Crore+	Y
2	Sapam Nishikant Singh	Imphal West	Keisamthong	IND	29,31,05,380 29 Crore+	2,48,08,642 2 Crore+	Y
3	Moirangthem Okendro	Thoubal	Heirok	INC	9,12,96,414 9 Crore+	1,99,00,000 1 Crore+	Y

Table: Top three candidates with highest liabilities

Candidates with high income as declared in the ITR*: The details of top 3 candidates with high income declared in ITR are given below:

S.No.	Name	Party Name	Constituency	District	Total Asset (Rs)	Self-Source of Income	Spouse's Source of Income	The financial year for which the last income tax return has been filed by candidate	Total income shown by candidate in ITR (Self+Spouse+Dependent) (Rs)	Self-income shown by candidate in ITR (Rs)
1	Yumkham Erabot Singh	NPP	Wangkhei	Imphal East	2,01,98,624 2 Crore+	Monthly Salary Amount	Monthly Pension	2021-2022	2,71,98,350 2 Crore+	2,71,98,350 2 Crore+
2	Sapam Nishikant Singh	IND	Keisamthong	Imphal West	29,31,05,380 29 Crore+	Business	Business	2020-2021	2,13,62,790 2 Crore+	1,99,10,300 1 Crore+
3	Sagolshem Kebi Devi	BJP	Naoria Pakhanglakpa	Imphal West	6,35,52,175 6 Crore+	From Entrepreneurship	From Entrepreneurship	2020-2021	1,26,37,910 1 Crore+	4,01,320 4 Lacs+

Table: Top 3 candidates with highest income as declared in ITR

Undeclared PAN: A total of 2(1%) candidates have not declared their PAN details.

Other Background Details

Education details of candidates: 56(21%) candidates have declared their educational qualifications to be between 5^th and 12^thstandard while 205(77%) candidates have declared having an educational qualification of graduate or above. 4 candidates are Diploma holders.

Age details of candidates: 32(12%) candidates have declared their age to be between 25 to 40 years while 181 (68%) candidates have declared their age to be between 41 to 60 years. There are 50 (19 %) candidates who have declared their age to be between 61 to 80 years and 2 candidates have declared they are more than 80 years old.

Gender details of candidates: 17(6%) female candidates are contesting in the Manipur assembly election 2022. In 2017 Manpur Assembly Elections, 11(4%) out of 265 candidates analysed were women.

Recommendations of ADR

To remedy the existing problem of criminalization is to immediately act upon the plausible solutions offered by various committees, civil society and citizens. Supreme Court of India being the ultimate custodian of “Justice and Rule of Law” should reprimand political parties and politicians for their complete lack of will, reprehensible predilection and absence of required laws.

Permanent disqualification of candidates convicted for heinous crimes like murder, rape, smuggling, dacoity, kidnapping etc.

Disqualification of persons from contesting elections to the public offices against whom charges have been framed for having committed serious criminal offences punishable by imprisonment of at least 5 years, and the case is filed at least 6 months prior to the election in question.

Cancellation of tax exemptions given to the political parties who field such tainted candidates.

Bringing political parties under the Right to Information Act.

De-register and de-recognise any political party if it knowingly puts up a candidate with a tainted background.

Political party should annually file the information on criminal antecedents of their Office Bearers and make such records available to the public, including NIL records.

Disqualification of candidates furnishing false information in the election affidavit (Form 26).

Ensure trial of cases in which the politicians are accused to be concluded in a time bound manner.

Implementation of SC judgment dated 23^rd September, 2013 (i.e provision of NOTA buttons on the EVMs) in its letter and spirit by ensuring a) if NOTA gets more votes than any of the candidates, none of the candidates should be declared elected, and a fresh election should be held; b) in the fresh election, none of the candidates in the earlier election, in which NOTA got the highest number of votes, should be allowed to contest.

Implementation of the 25^th September, 2018 and 13^th February, 2020 SC orders on 'publication of criminal cases against candidates selected by political parties along with reasons for such selection' in its letter and spirit by directing the Election Commission of India a) to list out names of such tainted candidates selected by the political parties along with such reasons for such selection C8 including diligent publication of reasons in newspapers, T.V channels, party website etc, b) strict and constant reminders by ROs to the defaulters, c) list needs to be religiously prepared and submitted to the Supreme Court after every election, d) uploading of this list on ECI’s website for public inspection, e) a suitably heavy financial penalty levied on political parties for making insufficient disclosures, invalid and common reasons, selection of candidates based on winnability and f) Officer in-charge of a political party pertaining to submission of a compliance report should also be held accountable for such a breach.

The Election Commission of India and all State Election Commissions should make it mandatory in all elections; Parliamentary, Assembly and Local Body elections to carry display boards outside each and every polling booth showing a summarised version of candidates’ affidavits. The polling booths should essentially display details of candidate’s criminal records, assets and liabilities and education qualification.

The Election Commission of India under its ‘Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation’ (SVEEP) as well as through other national campaigns on voter awareness held before every election should inform and aware the voters that (i) taking and giving cash or gifts/freebies for votes is a criminal offense, (ii) such instances should be brought to the notice of the ECI through its web application, (iii) inform voters that information on criminal records of candidates is available on the ECI website, outside polling booths and other sources that the ECI may use.

Political parties in India should be required to announce/publish the list of candidates contesting elections at least 3 months prior to elections.

Role of money and muscle power is evident from the fact that all major political parties in Manipur Assembly Elections 2022 have fielded 50% to 80% candidates who are crorepatis and 13 to 29 % candidates who have declared criminal cases against themselves. This close and alarming nexus between money power and muscle power has got so ingrained in our electoral system that the citizens are left hostage to the current situation. 18 % of the population of Manipur is already below the poverty line as per the NFHS 2015-16 report of NITI Aayog published in 2021. Money and muscle power hurt the principles of 'free and fair elections', 'participatory democracy' and 'level playing field'. The present circumstances therefore demand an extensive deliberation by the voters so that sanctity of elections is not ridiculed by tenacious entry of tainted candidates and candidates with abnormal multiplication of assets.