Srinagar: Apni Party president, Syed Altaf Bukhari is the richest candidate contesting the assembly polls in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir followed by Tariq Karra of INC and Devendar Singh Rana of BJP.
Data accessed by news agency KNO, reveals that Bukhari, contesting from Channapora in Srinagar has declaring total assets worth Rs 165 crore followed by Congress leader Tariq Hameed Karra, who is contesting from Srinagar’s Central Shalteng constituency and his declared assets worth Rs 148 crore.
BJP’s Devender Singh Rana, brother of Union minister Jitendra Singh, is the third wealthiest contender. Rana, who is contesting from Nagrota in Jammu, declared assets worth Rs 126 crore — the highest in the Jammu region.
Almost half of the candidates in the Jammu & Kashmir elections are crorepatis, with the average wealth per candidate standing at Rs 3.65 crore. Only three candidates, however, have declared assets exceeding Rs 100 crore.
On the other end of the spectrum, BJP’s local unit president Ravinder Raina, contesting from Rajouri’s Nowshera, is among the poorest candidates, with a meager Rs 1,000 in assets. Among non-zero declarations, Raina is the second-poorest candidate after Mohd Akram from Poonch’s Surankote.
There are in total 873 candidates, 137 are from national parties, 205 from state parties, and 185 from registered unrecognised parties. A total of 346 candidates are contesting independently.
Of the total 219 candidates contesting the first phase of the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections, scheduled for September 18, a striking 50 per cent have declared assets exceeding Rs 1 crore, a report compiled by the Association of Democratic Reform (ADR) has revealed.
Mehbooba Mufti-led Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has the highest crorepatis: 18 out of 21. The richest candidate in the first phase also belongs to PDP: Abdul Gaffar Sofi, contesting from Anantnag West. In his election affidavit, Sofi declared assets worth over Rs 66 crore. He is followed by PDP’s Imtiaz Ahmed Shan with more than Rs 34 crore in assets.
In north Kashmir, which goes to polls on Oct 01, the third phase, Shabir Ahmad Mir of PDP is the richest candidate. Mir, who is contesting from Gulmarg constituency, has declared assets worth over Rs 48 crore, with an annual income of nearly Rs 53 lakh-highest.
There has also been a significant rise in the number of candidates with criminal backgrounds. At least 152 candidates (17%) have declared criminal cases against themselves, a sharp increase from the 49 candidates (6%) in the 2014 elections. Out of these, 114 (13%) candidates face serious criminal charges, including 12 who are facing charges related to attempted murder (IPC Section 307) and 15 with cases involving crimes against women, including three facing rape charges (IPC Section 376).
With 407 (47%) having education between the 5th and 12th standards, and 436 (50%) holding qualifications of graduate level or above. Only 15 candidates are diploma holders, one candidate is just literate, and 13 have declared themselves as illiterate.
In terms of age, the largest group of candidates (47%) is between 41 and 60 years old, followed by 33% of candidates aged 25 to 40. A significant portion (20%) is between 61 and 80 years old.
