At least 45 out of the 60 sitting MLAs of Nagaland are crorepatis, while 2 MLAs have declared criminal cases against themselves, a report revealed.
According to the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) report which was released on Tuesday, 45 (75%) out of 60 sitting MLAs analyzed are crorepatis while 2 MLAs – one from NDPP and one from BJP -have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits, both of which are said to be serious criminal cases.
The report also highlighted MLAs of all the parties that have declared assets valued more than Rs 1 crore. The party wise distribution of MLAs having declared assets valued more than Rs 1 Crore is mentioned below:
· Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) – 32 out of 42;
· Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – 9 out of 12
· Naga People’s Front (NPF) – 3 out of 4
· Independent (Ind) – 1 out of 2
The average of assets per sitting MLA was reported to be Rs 5.14 crore. It said that the average assets per MLA for 42 NDPP MLAs analyzed is Rs 5.73 crore, 12 BJP MLAs Rs 3.68 crore, 4 NPF MLAs Rs 5.34 crores and two Independent MLAs have average assets of Rs 1.13 crore.
Neiphiu Rio of Northern Angami-II A/C recorded the highest assets of Rs.36 Crore+ among the MLAs while Eshak Konyak of Aboi A/C recorded the lowest assets at Rs.11 Lacs+.
Meanwhile, Temjen Imna Along of Alongtaki A/C who had assets worth Rs. 9 Crore+ was reported to have the highest declared liabilities at Rs. 75 Lacs+.
With regards to education details of the MLAs, the report stated that 19 (32%) MLAs have declared their education qualification to be between 8th pass and 12th pass while 40 (67%) MLAs have declared having an educational qualification of graduate or above and one MLA had declared himself as illiterate, the report said.
“ADR and Nagaland Election Watch have analyzed the criminal, financial and other background details of all 60 sitting MLAs. This analysis is based on the affidavits submitted by the candidates prior to the 2018 Assembly elections and bye elections conducted thereafter,” the report said.
On age details, the report said that 10 (17 per cent) MLAs have declared to be between 31 and 40 years, while 32 (53 per cent)are between 41 to 60 years and there are 17 (28 per cent) MLAs who have declared their age to be between 61 to 80 and one is aged above 80.
The report also said that no women were included out of the 60 MLAs analyzed.