In Meghalaya, 45 out of 59 winning candidates are crorepatis, as per analysis report

Staff Reporter

Shillong, March 8: Forty-five of the fifty-nine winning candidates in the 2023 Assembly elections are crorepatis. This was as per a statement issued by Meghalaya Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) after having analysed the self-sworn affidavits of all 59 winning candidates.

These include 20 (77 per cent) out of 26 from NPP, 9(82 per cent) out of 11 from UDP, 4 (80 per cent) out of 5 from AITC, 3 (60 per cent) out of 5 from INC and 2 (100 per cent) out of 2 from BJP winning candidates have declared assets worth more than Rs. 1 crore.

The average of assets per winning candidate in the Meghalaya Assembly Elections 2023 is Rs 10.14 Crore while it was at Rs 7.18 crore in 2018.

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

The top three winning candidates with high assets are UDP chief and Mairang MLA Metbah Lyngdoh with Rs 1,46,31,51,838, HSPDP MLA Methodius Dkhar – Rs 55,10,00,487 and Sniawbhalang Dhar – Rs 45,35,80,343, while the winning candidates with the low assets are AITC legislator from Dadenggre Rupa M. Marak with Rs 5,19,949, VPP legislator from North Shillong with Rs 13,61,442 and UDP legislator from Mokaiaw Nujorki Sungoh with Rs 18,73,220.

A total of 8 winning candidates have declared liabilities of Rs 1 crores and above. Of this, the top 3 winning candidates are Metbah Lyngdoh with Rs 44,54,23,816, Renikton Lyngdoh Tongkhar with Rs 7,28,20,406 and Sosthenes Sohtun with Rs 4,78,90,545.

The 3 winning candidates who have declared the highest income in their Income Tax Returns include Sniawbhalang Dhar with Rs 30,39,76,984, Renikton Lyngdoh Tongkhar with Rs 4,64,89,741 and Methodius Dkhar with Rs 2,43,95,433.

Also, 3(12 per cent) out of 26 NPP winning candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.

2 (8 per cent) out of 26 NPP winning candidates have declared serious criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.

With regards to educational qualification, 17 (29 per cent) winning candidates have declared their educational qualification to be between 8th pass and 12th pass, while 39 (66 per cent) winning candidates have declared having an educational qualification of graduate and above. 3 winning candidates are Diploma holders.

37 (63 per cent) winning candidates have declared their age to be between 25 and 50 years while 22 (37 per cent) winning candidates have declared their age to be between 51 and 80.

Meanwhile, only 3 (5 per cent) winning candidates are women.

Upscaling Hobby to Business- the story of Harador Khariong’s Plant Parenthood

“If done with full commitment and passion whether it’s art, science or music, one can achieve their goal to make things work better and the satisfaction you will get is beyond your imagination”— Harador Khariong, Founder-Plant Parenthood

For Harador Khariong, a resident of Wahingdoh Shillong, East Khasi Hills Meghalaya, Plant Parenthood started as a hobby and out of love for plants during her college days. This eventually became more interesting and turned to be a career option in planting in the year 2020, especially succulents because they were relatively easier to take care of.

It was during the Northeast Food Show 2022 that Harador saw few entrepreneurs with their stall under the umbrella of PRIME, after which she learned in detail about PRIME and how it has helped entrepreneurs succeed in their business. Therefore, in the same year she enrolled herself in the Pre – Incubation batch 3.

Through the PRIME’s Pre-Incubation program, she learned more about upscaling her business and ultimately launched the ‘Plant Parenthood’ initiative.

This article has been featured in collaboration with PRIME Entrepreneurship Meghalaya. To know more about PRIME, visit: https://www.primemeghalaya.com/