Press Release: Meghalaya Assembly Elections 2023: Analysis of Criminal Background, Financial, Education, Gender and Other Details of Winning Candidates

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Press Release

Date: March 6, 2023

Dear Friends,

Meghalaya Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) have analysed the self-sworn affidavits of all 59 winning candidates in the Meghalaya 2023 Assembly Elections. Meghalaya Assembly Election 2023 was held on February 27 for 59 out of 60 assembly seats. The scheduled election in Sohiong (23) assembly constituency has been delayed to an undeclared date following the death of UDP candidate H. Donkupar R. Lyngdoh.

For the complete English and Hindi reports, please go to: https://adrindia.org/content/analysis-criminal-background-financial-education-gender-and-other-details-winning-9

Summary and Highlights

Figure: Final Party Position

Criminal Background

Winning candidates with criminal cases: Out of the 59 winning candidates analysed in 2023, 3(5%) winning candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves. Out of 59 MLAs analysed during Meghalaya Assembly elections in 2018, 1(2%) MLA had declared criminal cases against himself.

Winning candidates with serious criminal cases: 2 (3%) winning candidates have declared serious criminal cases against themselves. Out of 59 MLAs analysed during Meghalaya Assembly elections in 2018, None of the MLA had declared serious criminal cases against themselves.

Figure: Comparison of declared criminal cases of MLAs of 2018 vs Winning candidate 2023

Party wise Winning candidates with Criminal Cases: 3(12%) out of 26 NPP winning candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.

Party wise Winning candidates with Serious Criminal Cases: 2(8%) out of 26 NPP winning candidates have declared serious criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.

Figure: Party Wise Percentage of Winning Candidates with Criminal Cases

Financial Background

Crorepati Winning candidates: Out of the 59 winning candidates analysed, 45 (76%) are crorepatis. Out of 59 MLAs analysed during Meghalaya assembly elections 2018, 39 (66%) MLAs were crorepatis.

Figure: Percentage of Crorepati MLAs 2018 and Winning Candidates 2023

Party-wise crorepati winning candidates:20 (77%) out of 26 from NPP, 9(82%) out of 11 from UDP, 4 (80%) out of 5 from AITC, 3 (60%) out of 5 from INC and 2 (100%) out of 2 from BJP winning candidates have declared assets worth more than Rs. 1 crore.

Figure: Party wise Percentage of Crorepati Winning Candidates

Figure: Share of Wealth Among Winning Candidates

Average assets: The average of assets per winning candidates in the Meghalaya Assembly Elections 2023 is Rs 10.14 Crores. The average of assets per MLA in the Meghalaya Assembly Elections 2018 was Rs 7.18 Crores.

Figure: Comparison of Average Assets (Rs. in Crores) 2018 vs 2023

Party wise average assets: The average assets per winning candidate for 26 NPP winning candidates is Rs 6.83 Crores, 11 UDP winning candidates is Rs 19.96 Crores, 5 AITC winning candidates is Rs 12.72 Crores, 5 INC winning candidates is Rs 3.03 Crores, 2 BJP winning candidates is Rs 14.91 Crores and 2 Hill State People’s Democratic Party winning candidates have average assets worth Rs 32.21 Crores.

High asset winning candidates: The top three winning candidates with high assets are given below:

S.No.	Name	District	Constituency	Party Name	Movable Assets (Rs)	Immovable Assets (Rs)	Total Assets (Rs)	PAN Given
1	Metbah Lyngdoh	West Khasi Hills	Mairang (ST)	UDP	87,49,27,463	58,82,24,375	1,46,31,51,838 146 Crore+	Y
2	Methodius Dkhar	West Khasi Hills	Mawshynrut (ST)	Hill State People’s Democratic Party	22,82,83,287	32,27,17,200	55,10,00,487 55 Crore+	Y
3	Sniawbhalang Dhar	West Jaintia Hills	Nartiang (ST)	NPP	20,57,30,343	24,78,50,000	45,35,80,343 45 Crore+	Y

Table: Top three winning candidates with highest declared assets

Low asset winning candidates: The details of three winning candidates with the lowest assets are given below:

S.No.	Name	District	Constituency	Party Name	Movable Assets (Rs)	Immovable Assets (Rs)	Total Assets (Rs)	PAN Given
1	Rupa M. Marak	West Garo Hills	Dadenggre (ST)	AITC	5,19,949	0	5,19,949 5 Lacs+	N
2	Adelbert Nongrum	East Khasi Hills	North Shillong (ST)	Voice of the People Party	13,61,442	0	13,61,442 13 Lacs+	Y
3	Nujorki Sungoh	West Jaintia Hills	Mowkaiaw (ST)	UDP	18,73,220	0	18,73,220 18 Lacs+	Y

Table: Three winning candidates with lowest declared assets

Winning candidates with high liabilities: 8 winning candidates have declared liabilities of Rs 1 crores and above, and the details of the top 3 winning candidates are as follows:

S.No.	Name	District	Constituency	Party Name	Total Assets(Rs)	Liabilities (Rs)	Disputed liabilities (Rs)	PAN Given
1	Metbah Lyngdoh	West Khasi Hills	Mairang (ST)	UDP	1,46,31,51,838 146 Crore+	44,54,23,816 44 Crore+	0	Y
2	Renikton Lyngdoh Tongkhar	South West Khasi Hills	Mawkyrwat (ST)	UDP	29,54,75,912 29 Crore+	7,28,20,406 7 Crore+	0	Y
3	Sosthenes Sohtun	Ri Bhoi	Jirang (ST)	NPP	19,69,24,486 19 Crore+	4,78,90,545 4 Crore+	0	Y

Table: Top three winning candidates with high liabilities

Winning candidates with high income as declared in ITR*: The table below shows 3 winning candidates who have declared highest income in their Income Tax Returns.

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 winning candidate	Total income shown by winning candidate in ITR (Self+Spouse+Dependent) (Rs)	Self-income shown by winning candidate in ITR (Rs)
1	Sniawbhalang Dhar	NPP	Nartiang (ST)	West Jaintia Hills	45,35,80,343 45 Crore+	Salary and Rental Income	Business	2022-2023	30,39,76,984 30 Crore+	0
2	Renikton Lyngdoh Tongkhar	UDP	Mawkyrwat (ST)	South West Khasi Hills	29,54,75,912 29 Crore+	Salary and Interests	NA	2022-2023	4,64,89,741 4 Crore+	4,64,89,741 4 Crore+
3	Methodius Dkhar	Hill State People’s Democratic Party	Mawshynrut (ST)	West Khasi Hills	55,10,00,487 55 Crore+	Business	Nil	2022-2023	2,43,95,433 2 Crore+	2,43,95,433 2 Crore+

Table: Top 3 winning candidates with high income as declared in income tax returns

*Total income includes income of self, spouse and dependents

Other Background Details

Education Details of winning candidates: 17 (29%) winning candidates have declared their educational qualification to be between 8^th pass and 12^th pass, while 39 (66%) winning candidates have declared having an educational qualification of graduate and above. 3 winning candidates are Diploma holders.

Age details of winning candidates: 37 (63%) winning candidates have declared their age to be between 25 and 50 years while 22 (37%) winning candidates have declared their age to be between 51 and 80.

Gender details of winning candidates: Out of 59 winning candidates analysed, 3(5%) winning candidates are women. In 2018, out of 59 MLAs, 3 (5%) MLAs were women.