Dimapur:
In Dimapur, Nagaland, KL Chishi is a big name. The veteran politician, who has been chief minister of the state in the 90s, is contesting for the second time from this predominantly urban constituency. However, Mr Chishi's claim to fame is not just all this. At Rs 51 crore, the Congressman is also the richest candidate in the upcoming Nagaland elections to be held on February 23, according to data released by the NGO, National Elections Watch. The current Chief Minister and National People's Front (NPF) leader Neiphiu Rio is a distant second, with assets worth Rs 19 crore.
When NDTV visits Mr Chishi on Saturday morning, his palatial house is teeming with young college going boys and girls, all of whom want to become his election agents. Equally dominating, is the presence of Nagaland Police personnel, many of who guard Mr Chishi round the clock. Later in the evening, we catch up with Mr Chishi at a public meeting. Perhaps because of election commission restrictions, there is nothing too lavish about the meeting. Here too, the crowd is mostly dominated by young people, all of whom cheer lustily for their leader.
In Nagaland, being a rich candidate is a big paradox. According to planning commission figures, more than 20 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line. The same figures, released by the commission for the year 2010, say that Nagaland has the highest percentage increase in those living below the poverty line in the last decade. These are figures the Nagaland government disputes.
What is indisputable though, are another set of statistics. In Nagaland, 45 percent of the 280 contesting candidates for the upcoming assembly election are crorepatis, up from the 27 per cent in the last assembly elections, according to data released by the National Elections watch.
But unlike politicians in other states, who may be shy of talking about their wealth, in Nagaland, politicians are quite open about their wealth.
When NDTV asked Mr Chishi, the topper among crorepati candidates if his wealth would create a negative impression of him, and give ammunition for the opposition in a state where corruption is a big agenda, his reply was straightforward. "It is not at all negative. I don't have liquid cash with me. I only have assets. I don't have money because I have been in the opposition for the last five years. So in terms of cash, I am a pretty useless person." He added, "I don't hide my assets. I said in my affidavit. Otherwise if I hide my assets, then people will say you are living beyond your means."
When NDTV asked Mr Chishi if money power is playing a big role in the upcoming assembly elections, his reply was another exercise in bluntness. "Money is playing a part. But for the Congress, it's not money. The NPF is playing with the people's money. Nothing has reached the poor people. Poor people are weeping, crying. So perhaps when they are shown some money they take it. But that does not mean votes," he says.
Sources close to the Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, rubbished Mr Chishi's allegations, and said they would not react to such baseless statements
On Saturday, the Election Commission seized Rs 1 crore from a candidate of a ruling Nagaland People's Front candidate in the state capital Kohima. All across the state, allegation of money exchanging hands are flying around. Not helping the state's cause perhaps, is a rather long list of crorepatis contesting the state's assembly elections.