And the richest candidate is ...
Nyimthungo Lotha, independent candidate from Nagaland, owns land worth Rs 9,000 crore and a house in his village worth Rs 4 crore!
An independent contestant for the lone Lok Sabha seat in Nagaland has disclosed in his mandatory affidavit that he owned property worth over Rs 9,000 crore making him the richest candidate in the country.
Nyimthungo Lotha, from Humtso village under Wokha district, said in his affidavit he owned an area measuring 15 sq km worth Rs 9,000 crore, besides five hectares of agricultural land worth Rs 5 crore and a house in his village worth Rs 4 crore.
Lotha, an agricultural engineering graduate from Punjab Agriculture University completed his master degree from Mumbai university and worked in ICAR, Hyderabad, before he resigned from service to join politics.
He told newsmen yesterday that the market value of his land was assessed by the Wokha deputy commissioner and that he had launched a political party on April 4 called the 'Labor Party'.
However, his claim about his property did not find any takers as in Nagaland most of the land in rural areas are either owned by the community, village or clans due to the tribal land holding system.
Altogether five candidates are in the fray for Nagaland seat where the fight is likely to centre on the one between ruling Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN) and the opposition Congress, which won the seat during the last two terms.
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