Tag: Election

12May

As polling ends, a profile of the men and women who fought for your votes

On the final day of polling in the world’s biggest election, voters in 41 constituencies across Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal will cast their votes, and, of course, post photos of inked fingers on social media. The 8,234 candidates who  submitted themselves to the electorate over the past month were obliged to declare their education, assets, and a range of other details. Based on that information, here is a quick profile of the candidates who fought for the 16th Lok Sabha seats.

Female candidates made up just 8% of the field. In the last Lok Sabha women occupied 11% of the seats. This means that in order to beat that figure, female candidates will need to be more electorally successful than their male counterparts this time around.

Most candidates were in their 40s, the average age being 47.

There were 52 candidates aged 25. The constitution states that anyone under the age of 25 may not sit in the Lok Sabha.

At 93 Ram Sundar Das is the oldest candidate — the only one in the 90s, in fact. He is running in Hajipur, Bihar for the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Rishang Keishing, who is 94, currently holds the record for India’s and the world’s oldest MP. However, he is not seeking reelection this time. If Sundar Das is elected and serves a full term he will become the world’s oldest MP.

Just under one-third of the candidates are graduates, and over 40% declared that they are educated to a high school level.

Five per cent of candidates have no formal education.

The average candidate has assets totalling Rs 49,309,000 (approximately £488,000).

The wealthiest candidate is technology entrepreneur Nandan Nilekani, who declared total assets of Rs 77,102,957,219 (approximately £763,473,000), including Rs 1,166,057,978 (£11,546,000) currently deposited in the bank.

The majority of the candidate, 82%, have never been involved in any criminal cases.

Two candidates from the Aam Aadmi Party in Tamil Nadu came top of the list in terms of involvement in criminal cases.

Udayakumar S P declared in his sworn affidavit that he has been involved in 382 cases, which include 19 charges of attempted murder and 16 charges “related to waging, or attempting to wage war, or abetting waging of war, against the Government of India”.

M Pushparayan, came a close second, declaring he has been involved in 380 criminal case.

Data compiled by the Association for Democratic Reforms and National Election Watch, based on sworn affidavits from candidates.

21Apr

India tourism spots an opportunity in the elections

Lok Sabha elections: Narendra Modi file nomination from Vadodara

With India in the throes of a general election, and the world watching with interest, the country’s tourism industry has spotted an opportunity to draw the maximum benefit. Backpackers are being lured by electiontourismindia.com not to see slums but to witness the world’s biggest democratic exercise. After all, few spectacles beat the experience of watching a politician gear up for the big contest or make that charged speech at a huge rally.

The website, brainchild of India Tourism Development Corporation chairman Manish Sharma, has been developed in collaboration with travel agents worldwide and offers packages that include interaction with political parties and attendance at propaganda events. Sharma believes these ‘poll tourism’ packages give foreigners the opportunity to explore India’s vibrant democracy which accommodates different cultures.

Some of the website’s interesting offers are the Democratic Triangle Package, which is a six-day visit to Jaipur, Delhi and Agra, and Political Rajasthan Royals, which begins from Delhi and takes tourists through Pushkar, Jaipur, Jodhpur, and Mount Abu before ending at Udaipur. This package is an eight-day tour.

Other packages are Heritage Hub and Golden Triangle which take tourists through other fascinating destinations of Rajasthan and Delhi for eight days. A spokesperson for the website said many foreigners have registered for about $1200 for these packages. The spokesperson said at least 800 tourists had signed up to watch the election process and ITDC is expecting more as the elections enter the last leg.

These packages are being promoted in the US, UK, France, Germany, China, UAE, Singapore and many other countries.

On the flip side, the elections have brought down the number of Indians who are traveling abroad. However, the outlook for this year as a whole remains bright, according to Sunila Patil, founder and co-owner of Veena World, an upcoming travel company.

“There is a mild drop in [foreign travel] as people are choosing to vote before going off on a holiday,” she said. “[But] May is a promising month. Summer vacations of children start in mid-April, so outbound tourism rises after that. So the dip in April will be made up next month.”

Patil added that in the last few months there has been a rise in domestic travel in the northern states of India, though not for political reasons.

Photo credit: NisargPhotography via photopin cc

© Copyright 2013, All Rights Reserved