HP's crorepati candidates don't pay a rupee of Income Tax

New Delhi: India may be the world’s largest democracy but it most certainly does not have the world’s most conscientious polity. While black money – also known to be money that is not taxed – is a rampant ill in India, its politicians often lead by bad example. Case in point being candidates contesting in Himachal Pradesh’s Assembly Election on 4 November. According to the Association for Democratic Reforms, an electoral and political reforms NGO, the CPM’s candidate from Theog, Rakesh Singh, having total assets worth Rs 17.28 crore, leads the list of candidates having high assets but those who have never filed IT returns. Singh is followed by Vijay Jayoti an independent from Kasumpti with assets of Rs 7.23 crore and CPM’s candidate from Shimla Tikender Panwar who has assets of Rs 3.05 crore. [caption id=“attachment_508559” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] While black money – also known to be money that is not taxed – is a rampant ill in India, its politicians often lead by bad example. Reuters[/caption] The top 10 candidates in the list have assets ranging from almost Rs 99 lakh to Rs 17.28 crore – but have never filed income tax returns. Of the total of 459 candidates contesting the Assembly elections in the state, ADR analysed 445 of them for their IT declarations. Of those analysed, the organisation found that 163 candidates had never filed their income taxes. Of the defaulters, BSP had 40 out of 62 candidates, BJP had 11 out of 68 candidates, HLP had 13 out of 32 candidates, AITC has 11 out of 26 candidates and Congress had 2 out of 68 candidates who have not filed IT returns. “Our report reflects the sad reality of the election system, which has become such, that money is the only thing that matters. The entire democracy has been hijacked by the rich and powerful,” VK Malik, coordinator at Himachal Pradesh Election Watch, part of ADR, told Firstpost. “Systemic changes are required or else democracy will be fractured by the moneybags,” he said. A total of 459 candidates are contesting in Himachal Pradesh 2012 Assembly Elections representing 16 political parties. In 2007, 336 candidates contested, representing 12 parties for the Himachal Pradesh Assembly Elections. In 2007, the percentage of ‘crorepati’ candidates was 16 percent, but according to affidavits submitted by this year’s candidates to the Election Commission 33 percent of the candidates are ‘crorepatis’ . And while ADR conducts awareness campaigns for voters through self help groups, local NGOs, posters and pamphlets, Malik told Firstpost he hopes voters will make an informed decision, because who comes to power is ultimately in their hands. “All I’d say is, voters should know about their candidates and make an informed choice based on the credentials of their candidates – because today the politicians will buy your vote, but tomorrow they will sell you,” Malik said.