Meghalaya Elections 2023: Your 10-Point Guide To The Candidates

There are 375 candidates in the contest for the 60 Assembly seats. While 233 of them are from national parties, 69 are from state parties. There are 44 Independent contestants too.

There has been a slight drop in the total number of candidates with criminal cases. Twenty-one out of the 375 candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves as against 25 in the last elections. 

There has also been a marginal improvement in the number of women candidates contesting the polls, from 33 in 2018 to 36 in 2023.

At least 47 per cent (177) of the candidates are graduates, while 58 have a post-graduate degree or a doctorate. At least 34 candidates have completed their secondary schooling while one candidate has declared himself illiterate.

Senior UDP leader Metbah Lyngdoh is the richest candidate in this election, with assets worth over Rs 146 crore. Senior Congress leader Vincent Pala is second on the list with assets of Rs 125 crore.

Congress candidate Arbiangkam Kharsohmat has the lowest declared assets among all the candidates in Meghalaya — Rs 9,000.

About 8 per cent (29) of the total candidates are in the age group of 25-30.

There are 61 MLAs (including those who won by-elections later) who are re-contesting in 2023. The assets of the re-contesting MLAs grew by an average of 77 per cent between 2018 and 2023.

The average assets of these 61 re-contesting MLAs in 2023 stands at Rs 12.31 crore, up from Rs 6.97 crore in 2018.

The total assets of Metbah Lyngdoh, the richest candidate this election, rose by Rs 59.04 crore between 2018 and 2023 — the highest rupee-wise increase among candidates.