1/3 CANDIDATES IN DELHI ARE CRORE

One-third of the 150 candidates who are in the fray for seven Lok Sabha seats in the national capital are crorepatis with Union minister Kapil Sibal being the richest of them with assets worth over Rs 114 crore, a report says. Ramanuj Patel, who is contesting from Samyak Parivartan Party, is the poorest and has declared Rs 100 as his assets. According to a report of Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Delhi Election Watch (DEW), based on the analysis of the self-sworn affidavits of all the 150 candidates, the average assets per candidate contesting from Delhi is Rs 3.09 crore. In the category of crorepati candidates, Sibal is followed by sitting MP and Congress candidate from West Delhi Mahabal Mishra (Rs 38 cr) and BJP's Meenakshi Lekhi (Rs 34 cr), who is contesting from New Delhi constituency. Party-wise, all the seven candidates of Congress, six candidates each of BJP and AAP and three candidates of BSP have declared assets worth more than Rs 1 crore. Four out of five candidates in All India Trinamool Congress too have assets worth more than Rs 1 crore, said the report. "Among major parties, the average assets of Congress candidates is Rs 28.29 crore, seven BJP candidates have an average assets of Rs 12.60 crore and seven AAP candidates have average assets of Rs 3.01 crore," it added. As many as 11 candidates have more than Rs 10 crore worth of assets, while a total of 43 candidates have declared assets less than Rs 10 Lakh. 
A total of 50 candidates out of total 150 have declared liabilities. Manoj Tiwari of BJP, who is contesting from North East Delhi constituency, has declared liabilities worth Rs 3.46 crore. Tiwari is followed by Parvesh Sahib Singh of BJP from West Delhi constituency with liabilities worth Rs 2.66 crore and Ashutosh of AAP from Chandni Chowk constituency with liabilities worth Rs 1.11 crore, the report said. As many as 23 candidates have declared total annual income of over Rs 10 Lakhs. The total income includes income of self, spouse and dependents. The report further stated that six candidates with assets worth more than Rs 1 crore, have not declared their Income Tax Details, while 16 have not declared their PAN details. Twenty candidates have not given value for at least one immovable asset declared in their affidavits. As far as education qualification of candidates is concerned, 77 candidates have educational qualification of class 12 or below while 65 are graduates or have higher degrees. There are four illiterate candidates in fray. Age-wise, 97 candidates have declared their age to be between 25 and 50 years while 51 candidates are in the age group of 51-80 years. Only 13 out of 150 contesting candidates are women. 

TRANSGENDER CHALLENGES MODI &KEJRIWAL

BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi has a new rival in the temple town –- a transgender. Kamla, who is in her sixties, today announced her decision to fight from the prime constituency as an Independent candidate. "Arvind Kejriwal bears the blemish of running away from Delhi governance and the spectre of 2002 Gujarat riots is still dogging the image of Modi, but I have a spotless image," Kamala said and asked Varanasi voters to support her. "Benares is the city of Lord Shiva, who had also assumed the 'ardhnarishwara' form (a composite form of Lord Shiva and his wife Goddess Parvati). And, according to 'Shahstra' and 'Puranas', 'kinnar' (transgender) community is called 'ardhnirshwar'. So, please support me and vote for me," Kamla said. "I am a 'kinner', so I have no family. In the last 60-odd years after Independence, either a man or a woman has ruled the country and generated scams after scams. "If people support me, the third gender in this battle, then they will get a dynasty-free leader and set a new precedent for the betterment of the country," Kamla said. The new candidate, who is the head of all the transgenders in Poorvanchal area, said her community always offered blessings to people on happy occasions and now it was the time for the people to reciprocate with their votes. Kamla's election organiser Vikram Bhardwaj told PTI that by April 10, about 20,000 transgender from different parts of India will be gathering in Varanasi in support of Kamla. "If the Election Commission allows, we will take a padyatra (door-to-door campaign) in the city asking people to drop their votes in their "jholi" (bags). Bhardwaj alleged "many influential parties had tried to buy Kamla after their efforts to stop her from entering the fray went in vain." A conference involving eunuchs from various states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh was held earlier in Gorakhpur and we then took the decision to name Kamla for the "Battle for Benares", despite lakhs of rupees being offered for the withdrawal of her candidature, Bhardwaj said.

SONS & DAUGHTERS CONTESTING IN 50 CONSTITUENCIES

From President Pranab Mukherjee's son Abhijit to Rahul and Varun Gandhi, at least 50 parliamentary constituencies will be contested by 'sons and daughters' of politicians of various parties during the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Of these, a majority of candidates have been fielded from the ruling Congress party. Abhijit Mukherjee, a sitting MP, is contesting on a Congress ticket from his present Jangipur (West Bengal) constituency while Rahul Gandhi and Varun Gandhi are fighting from Amethi and Pilibhit constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, respectively. Congress Vice President Rahul is UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi's son and Varun is the son of Maneka Gandhi, a sitting BJP MP from Uttar Pradesh's Aonla constituency. Sonia Gandhi, wife of former Prime Minister, the late Rajiv Gandhi, is contesting elections from the Rae Bareli parliamentary constituency. BJP has this time fielded Varun from Sultanpur and his mother Maneka from Pilibhit. Maneka is the wife of the late Sanjay Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi's brother. Finance Minister P Chidambaram's son Karti is in the poll fray from Tamil Nadu's Sivaganga constituency. Karti is making his debut in Lok Sabha elections from Sivaganga, which is represented by his father in the lower house of Parliament. Senior BJP leader and former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha's son Jayant is contesting from Hazaribagh constituency in Jharkhand. Yashwant Sinha is a Lok Sabha member from Hazaribagh. Sons and Union Ministers of former Congress party leaders, who are no more, are also contesting upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Jyotiraditya Scindia, son of the late Madhavrao Scindia, is contesting from Madhya Pradesh's Guna constituency. He is a Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power. Sachin Pilot, son of the late Rajesh Pilot, is contesting from Rajasthan's Ajmer constituency. Sachin is a Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Corporate Affairs. Jitin Prasada, son of late Jitendra Prasada is contesting from Uttar Pradesh's Dhaurahra constituency. He is Minister of State for Human Resource Development. 
Congress Rajya Sabha MP from Maharashtra and former Cabinet Minister in UPA government Murli Deora's son Milind is contesting election from South-Mumbai constituency. Milind, Minister of State for Communication and Information Technology and also for Shipping, is a sitting MP from the same seat. Also, Kerala Governor and former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit's son Sandeep, a sitting MP, is contesting on a Congress ticket from East Delhi constituency. Haryana's Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda's son Deepender, also a sitting MP, is contesting from Rohtak constituency. Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi's son Gourav is contesting from Kaliabor parliamentary constituency on a Congress ticket while Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh's son Abhishek is in the fray from Rajnandgaon. Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje's son Dushyant is contesting from the Jhalawar seat in the state as a BJP candidate. Former Congress Union minister and late actor Sunil Dutt's daughter Priya is fighting elections from Maharashtra's Mumbai-North-Central seat. Priya, a sitting MP, is facing BJP's Poonam Mahajan. Poonam is the daughter of former BJP leader and Union Minister, the late Pramod Mahajan. Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh's son Rajbir Singh is contesting from Etah on a BJP ticket. In Delhi, former BJP Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma's son Parvesh Verma is contesting from West Delhi constituency. It is not that only the main political parties like Congress and BJP are giving tickets to sons and daughters of their senior leaders, other regional parties are also following the 'dynasty politics' trend. In Bihar, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav's daughter Misha Bharati is contesting from the Pataliputra seat. Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Ram Vilas Paswan's son Chirag is also contesting his maiden elections from Bihar's Jamui seat. In Karnataka, Janata Dal (Secular) chief HD Deve Gowda's son HD Kumaraswamy is contesting from Karnataka's Chikkballapur seat. His father Deve Gowda is also in polls fray from Hassan seat, already represented by him in Lok Sabha. Former Karnataka Chief Minister, the late S Bangarappa's daughter Geetha Shivarajkumar is contesting from Karnataka's Shimoga seat.  
In Maharashtra, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule is contesting from Baramati seat. Sule, who represents the constituency in Lok Sabha, is contesting on Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) ticket. Nilesh Rane, a sitting MP, is contesting from Ratnagiri- Sindhudurg seat on a Congress ticket. Rane, a sitting MP, is the son of Maharashtra Industries Minister Narayan Rane. In Haryana, Kuldeep Bishnoi, son of former state Chief Minister, the late Bhajan Lal, is contesting from Hisar. Bishnoi, a sitting MP, is fighting as the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) party candidate. Bishnoi is facing Dushyant Chautala from Indian National Lok Dal, who is the grandson of former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala. Shruti Chowdhary, grand daughter of former Haryana Chief Minister, the late Chaudhary Bansi Lal, is contesting from Bhiwani-Mahendragarh seat. She is a Member of Parliament for the same constituency. In Madhya Pradesh, Ajay Singh is contesting from Satna on a Congress ticket. He is the son of former Human Resource Development minister and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister late Arjun Singh. Arun Yadav, sitting MP, is also contesting from the state's Khandwa seat on a Congress ticket. Arun is the son of former Madhya Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister, the last Subhash Yadav. In Uttar Pradesh, Congress candidate Imran Masood is contesting from the Saharanpur seat. He is the son of former Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha member Rasheed Masood, who was recently disqualified from Parliament after being found guilty by Supreme Court in a criminal case. Parliamentarians in either house stand disqualified if they are convicted by a court in a criminal case, according to a Supreme Court judgement. Imran Masood is in judicial custody for his hate speech in which he allegedly threatened to "chop" Narendra Modi "into pieces". In Lakshawdeep, Hamdullah Sayeed is contesting from Congress. Hamdullah, a sitting MP, is son of former Parliamentarian, the late PM Sayeed. In Assam, Sushmita Dev is contesting from the Silchar seat as a Congress candidate. She is the daughter of former Union Minister Santosh Mohan Dev. Assam's Social Welfare Minister Akon Bora's son Manas Bora is contesting from Gauhati. In Chhattisgarh, Deepak Karma, son of anti-Naxal movement 'Salwa Judum' leader the late Mahendra Karma is contesting from Bastar. Mahendra Karma, a renowned Congress leader, was killed in a naxal attack last year. Civil Aviation minister Ajit Singh's son Jayant Chaudhary may again contest this year's election. Jayant is a sitting MP from Uttar Pradesh's Mathura constituency. His father and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Ajit Singh, who is a Lok Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh's Baghpat, is again fighting from the same seat. Anurag Thakur, son of former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, is also likely to contest this year's election as a BJP candidate. Thakur is the sitting MP from Hamirpur. Lok Sabha elections are scheduled to begin on April 7.  

SOCIAL MEDIA IN POLL

As politicians try to get more 'social' through various online networking platforms this poll season, Facebook likes are a rage, Twitter is trending in a big way, but WhatsApp still seems alien for most big leaders. In a first major disclosure of their presence on various social media platforms, a large number of candidates in fray for Lok Sabha elections 2014 have listed their Facebook, Twitter and YouTube accounts in their poll affidavits. However, one of the most famous mobile internet messaging platforms, WhatsApp, finds a mention in the affidavits of only a few and these include Congress leader and former Union Minister Ajay Maken, fighting elections from New Delhi seat. At the same time, there are also some leaders, including two young turks of ruling Congress party, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Sachin Pilot, who have not disclosed any social media accounts, including the most popular Twitter and Facebook. Various political parties and their leaders have been thronging social networking platforms to woo voters, while internet giants like Google, Facebook and Twitter are looking for their slice of an estimated Rs 500-crore digital spending pie for this Lok Sabha polls. Leaders from Narendra Modi to Arvind Kejriwal have been asserting their presence on social media platforms in a big way, but a few others like Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are not there. Senior BJP leaders like LK Advani and Arun Jaitley have also been writing frequent blog posts. While some of these leaders are yet to file their election affidavits, many of those having filed their nominations have disclosed their social media accounts. An analysis of these affidavits shows that most of the candidates, cutting across parties and age groups, have presence on multiple social media platforms. From the Congress stable, Law Minister Kapil Sibal seems to be leading the way when it comes to social media presence. Besides his own website, the renowned lawyer has accounts in Twitter, Facebook, GooglePlus, YouTube and Instagram. Congress leader and former Union Minister Ajay Maken is among the candidates who have an account of WhatsApp -- the popular free mobile messaging platform -- besides presence on Facebook. His opponent and BJP spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi has Facebook and Twitter accounts. Another visible Congress face in social media is Shashi Tharoor, who is active in Twitter and also has a personal website. Ghaziabad candidate Shazia Ilmi Malik from AAP, the new party whose members have been very active on social media, has Twitter, Facebook as well as YouTube accounts. BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Modi and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal are among the high profile contestants who mostly express their views through social media, primarily Twitter. Both of them, pitted against each other in Varanasi, are yet to file their nomination papers. 
Despite all the hype surrounding social media campaigns, the Gandhi family still seems to be staying away from such platforms. Neither Congress President Sonia Gandhi nor her son and party Vice President Rahul Gandhi have any Twitter or Facebook accounts. Same is the case with Priyanka Gandhi. Social media presence is expected to be a key platform for reaching out to the electorate, especially with many a youngster getting ready to exercise their franchise. Going by estimates, nearly 150 million people in the age group of 18-24 years are anticipated to vote in the upcoming polls. Out of the 814 million Indians eligible to vote in this elections, more than 200 million are estimated to have access to the internet, including over 100 million active on various social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. According to digital media experts, a bulk of about 100 million first-time voters joining the electorate for upcoming Lok Sabha elections are very active on social networking sites and they are the main target of parties taking the social media route for promotions. Estimates suggest that out of nearly Rs 4,000-5,000 crore total advertisement and publicity budget across the parties, digital platforms may get at least Rs 400-500 crore in the run up to the polls. The social media network is also being used by parties looking to sign up volunteers and increasing party membership. Brand campaigns built around the senior leadership of the parties are a big hit, say campaign managers. Leading parties are also promoting and posting videos of their key rallies, speeches and events like Google+ Hangout. Parties are also using YouTube to distribute videos which which are targeted towards rival parties with some of them having already gone viral. Modi is among India's most famous social media celebrities with 11 million Facebook 'likes' and over 3 million Twitter followers. While many big Congress leaders are absent on platforms like Twitter and Facebook, there are people like Shashi Tharoor (with more than 2 million Twitter followers) and Kapil Sibal, Ajay Maken and others to fill the void. AAP's Kejriwal also has also over 1.6 million Twitter followers. 

RICHEST CONTESTANTS IN BIHAR

Real estate baron Anil Kumar Sharma, fighting Lok Sabha election on a JD(U) ticket from Jehanabad, is the richest candidate in poll fray in Bihar with assets worth Rs 850 crore. Chairman cum Managing Director (CMD) of the Amrapali Group of Companies, Sharma (50) has most of his wealth in the form of movable assets pegged at Rs 815 crore. He has Rs 2.15 crore cash in hand and jewellery worth Rs 3.1 crore. He also owns a Ford Endeavour bought in 2004. Most of the investments made by Sharma, who resides in Delhi and is listed there as a voter, are in his own group of companies. He has residences in New Delhi, Greater Noida (UP), Goa and Patna. He has shown his total annual income as Rs 10.36 crore in the Income Tax Returns filed for 2012-13. His wife Pallavi Mishra has assets worth Rs 1.75 crore. This includes 1.2 kg of gold and silver jewellery worth Rs 51 lakh. In his maiden electoral foray, the builder is pitted against Arun Kumar of Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) and Surendra Yadav of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), who have assets worth Rs 4 crore and Rs 5 crore respectively. Jehanabad goes to poll in the second phase on April 17.

SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT FOR DISABLED VOTERS IN DELHI

Delhi's first-ever integrated model to facilitate the disabled people vote seamlessly will be replicated in all other states after the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. According to Election Commmission sources, the model for the disabled initiated by the Delhi's Chief Electoral Office has been liked by the officials of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. "This initiative cannot be replicated in this election as there is very less time left for the polls to begin. The model along with making voting a smooth affair for the disabled voters also aims at sensitizing the polling officials about them," said an official from the Ministry. The book and the video film made by the Delhi's CEO, will be made available to all the states. According to the Delhi CEO, Vijay Dev, providing special training to the polling officials have already started. "There will be seven nodel officials from the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment who will coordinate with the returning officers to ensure that all facilities at the polling stations are made available in terms of seamless travel inside the polling station and while casting votes. This training module has been made in active collaboration with NGOs," Dev said. "The objective of this programme is to train them to be human and sensitize them about dealing with the behaviour of persons with disability," said Dev. Further, a software has been developed by which voters with disabilities can register themselves and mention their specific needs for the polling day. The link will be available on the official website of the Delhi Election Office. Dev recently held a meeting with the officials from the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment which included Joint Secretary Awanish Kumar Awasthi, all NGOs and Civil society organisations and seven returning officers. Almost 80,000 disabled voters, including the visually challenged and hearing impaired, will be casting their votes in the upcoming Lok sabha elections. As per the arrangements, there will be one wheelchair in each polling station along with volunteers with "May I Help You" tags. Apart from that, there will be ramps and railings and other facilities.

10 K CRORES BLACK MONEY FLOWS INTO ELECTION EXPENSES

As general elections draw closer, 'unaccounted money' may account for over one-third of total Rs 30,000 crore estimated to be spent on these polls, a study says. The estimated Rs 30,000 crore total spending -- which includes official estimates for elections as also unaccounted money spent by parties and their candidates -- is the highest ever amount utilised for any election in India. While various national and regional parties are estimated to spend Rs 8,000-10,000 crore for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, candidates at their individual level may spend a whopping amount of Rs 10,000-13,000 crore, as per the study conducted by research think-tank CMS. These figures include both official and unaccounted expenses. Talking about the findings of the study, CMS Chairman N Bhaskara Rao told PTI that the estimated spending of about Rs 30,000 crore could include nearly one-third amount as 'unaccounted money', which are mostly being used for voter mobilisation and as 'note-for-vote'. Government authorities, including the Election Commission (EC), are estimated to spend 7,000 crore Rs 8,000 crore, while media campaigns could account for Rs 6,000 crore to Rs 7,000 crore, the study said. The nine-phase Lok Sabha polls will take place between April 7 to May 12. Other expenses include nominations, poll logistics and pre-poll expenditure by parties in power as well as money spent on government campaigns about elections. "More money will flow as the poll dates come near. We have usually seen that vote-for-note trend picks up significant pace in the last 3-4 days leading to polls," said said Rao, who has been studying political campaigns for over four decades. At about Rs 30,000 crore so far, LS 2014 poll spend per voter comes to about Rs 400 going by the 81.4 crore eligible voters expected to cast their franchise this year. "Media campaigns usually account for 25 per cent of total spends. Pre-poll expenditure by parties in power (20-25 pc), voter mobilisation (10-12 pc), money to cadres (10-12 pc) and note-for-vote expenses (10-15 pc) also account for big chunks in the spending pie," he said. The Rs 30,000 crore estimate for Rs 2014 is against Rs 10,000-12,000 crore in 2009, he stated, adding that the corresponding amount stood at a mere Rs 2,500 crore in 1996 Lok Sabha polls when CMS started tracking poll expenses. "Increase in competitive politics is mostly responsible for this substantial rise in election expenditure. This could in turn be correlated to increasing corruption," said Rao.