The Hindu Business Line : Kerala candidates have `little' to declare

CANDIDATES in the fray for Lok Sabha elections from the State seem not to have been enamoured of the directive of the Election Commission to file affidavits stating what they are worth.

A review by watchdog Election Watch Kerala (EWK) revealed that contestants for the 20 seats from the State had chosen to be complacent while doing the mandatory filings as evidenced in the gross under-declaration of assets and liabilities in most cases.

EWK, a committee of impartial persons from different walks of life, is a civil society initiative to ensure free and fair elections. It is linked to a number of such initiatives in the country and has been inspired by the work of organisations such as the Association for Democratic Reform (ADR) and Lok Satta.

Briefing newspersons here on the EWK findings, Dr M. N. V. Nair, Chairperson, said the erring candidates had either refused to go through the entire format or had chosen to provide incomplete or insufficient information. EWK felt that there was a need to redesign the format of the affidavit to make it easier for filling by candidates and processing by authorities and public interest groups.

Dwelling on the inanities filed as part of the mandatory exercise, Dr Nair pointed out that one candidate had valued his `liquid assets' at just Rs 240 and that of his spouse at Rs 140, even as he proceeded to state that he owned a car and used it.

According to Mr V. Vivekanandan, Secretary, EWK, 107 out of the 177 candidates in the fray had stated that they held `no liability'. This is a statement that can only be taken with a pinch of salt.

The 36-page report found that only 21 candidates (12 per cent) had filed IT returns and 53 (30 per cent) obtained the Permanent Account Number (PAN). The Opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF) fared a tad better on both these counts. While 15 of the 20 LDF candidates had obtained PAN, only 13 of the rival Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) candidates and eight of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) had the cards.

The LDF candidates who had filed IT returns numbered eight, whereas four UDF and five NDA nominees managed to do so. Even fewer went gone on to declare payment of property or wealth tax. Ditto for those who volunteered to add the value of their vehicles to their total assets.

A redeeming feature was that none of the candidates had a serious criminal background to defend. Twenty-five candidates (14 per cent) had been involved in some offence or the other reported officially to law enforcement officers. A close scrutiny, however, revealed that most related to relatively minor offences such as unlawful assembly, obstruction of public duty and damage to property.

However, the report noted that Kerala had much to share with the rest of India in the choice of the gender of candidates. More than 90 per cent of the candidates were men. Senior citizens appeared to have an edge over the young generation, especially from among established political parties.

Of the 177 candidates, 53 per cent were graduates and 85 per cent matriculates. While 65 candidates (37 per cent) reported total assets of less than Rs 1 lakh, seven (four per cent) reported assets worth over Rs 1 crore. An Independent from Kozhikode, Mr Shantivarma Jain, was the wealthiest with declared assets worth Rs 18 crore.