--- description: Faced with having to best a former India cricket captain and a multi-billionaire, Makhan Lal Meena offers to pay for 2,100 weddings title: India Elections: Rajasthan Candidate Offers to Fund 2,100 Weddings image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6ff854c57712a6bc/69868aac35ba6febe9c01840/int_india_elections_wedding_0415.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # An Indian Election Candidate Will Pay for 2,100 Weddings to Win Votes  by [Charlie Campbell](/author/charlie-campbell/)  ## Charlie Campbell Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Editor at Large Apr 15, 2014 7:44 AM CUT  Voters in the constituency of Tonk-Sawai Madhopur in India's Rajasthan state can get a free wedding by voting for a local independent candidate Voters in the constituency of Tonk-Sawai Madhopur in India's Rajasthan state can get a free wedding by voting for a local independent candidateGetty Images  by [Charlie Campbell](/author/charlie-campbell/)  ## Charlie Campbell Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Editor at Large Apr 15, 2014 7:44 AM CUT Makhan Lal Meena, an independent candidate in northwestern India’s Rajasthan state, has [employed](http://scroll.in/article/661712/To-beat-Azharuddin-and-a-billionaire,-one-Rajasthan-candidate-decides-to-fund-2,100-weddings "undefined") a novel tactic in his bid to become MP for the constituency of Tonk-Sawai Madhopur. Realizing that his Congress Party and BJP rivals — a former India cricket captain and billionaire respectively — were way ahead in the polls, and that the parties shared 93.7% of votes last time round, Meena has agreed to fund 2,100 weddings to help curry favor with his prospective constituents. To avoid allegations of vote-buying, the ceremonies will be take place a long time after polling has closed. “I am a son of the soil, born and brought up here and have been engaged in such activities for many years,” he recently [told](http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/lok-sabha-elections-2014/news/Tonk-candidate-ready-to-marry-off-his-voters/articleshow/33466568.cms "undefined") the _Times of India_ by phone. India’s ongoing general elections are being conducted in nine stages over six weeks during which more than 814 million people are eligible to cast ballots. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/62957/indian-election-2100-weddings-makhan-lal-meena/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/62957/indian-election-2100-weddings-makhan-lal-meena/"},"headline":"An Indian Election Candidate Will Pay for 2,100 Weddings to Win Votes","datePublished":"2014-04-15T07:44:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:18:29.222Z","description":"Makhan Lal Meena, an independent parliamentary candidate in northwestern India’s Rajasthan state, has agreed to fund 2,100 weddings as a way of persuading people to vote for him","url":"https://time.com/62957/indian-election-2100-weddings-makhan-lal-meena/","keywords":["India","Weddings","BJP","South Asia"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6ff854c57712a6bc/69868aac35ba6febe9c01840/int_india_elections_wedding_0415.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Charlie Campbell","jobTitle":"Editor at Large","url":"https://time.com/author/charlie-campbell/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6ff854c57712a6bc/69868aac35ba6febe9c01840/int_india_elections_wedding_0415.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"int_india_elections_wedding_0415","caption":"Voters in the constituency of Tonk-Sawai Madhopur in India's Rajasthan state can get a free wedding by voting for a local independent candidate","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/62957/indian-election-2100-weddings-makhan-lal-meena/","name":"An Indian Election Candidate Will Pay for 2,100 Weddings to Win Votes"}}]}] ```