Srinagar: Arsheed Ahmad Lone, National Panthers Party (NPP) candidate from the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat in Jammu and Kashmir, has said he is using money borrowed from his father to fund his election campaign.
Lone, the poorest of the 20 candidates in the fray, is taking on political giants like PDP president Mehbooba Mufti and National Conference leader and former minister Mian Altaf Ahmad.
According to the affidavit filed before the Election Commission, Lone has declared that he has no income and no assets but a liability of Rs 2.60 lakh, a loan he had taken for a vehicle a few years ago. Also, he has not filed any returns over the past five years, the affidavit said.
“I do not have any income and I am dependent on my father to fund my election campaign,” the 28-year-old from Shopian district said.
Lone’s father Ghulam Mohammad Lone owns half an acre of apple orchard, which is the only source of income for the family.
The NPP leader said if elected, he wants to serve the people and address the issues of unemployment and development needs of the constituency.
“Thousands of projects are started in the country every year. If I manage to get even 10 projects started, it will be a game-changer. The projects will generate employment, and will keep the youth busy. Then there will be no stone-pelters or militants in Kashmir,” Lone added.
In the neighbouring district of Kulgam, 33-year-old Sajad Ahmad Dar has also jumped into the fray in the hope of breaking the “stranglehold of existing political parties”.
Dar, who has no regular source of income and does not own any immovable assets, faces a criminal case registered against him in 2014.
“As a teenager, I made a mistake but now we want to be part of the mainstream. The only way to do so is to become a part of this festival of democracy. The existing parties do not allow new faces to come forward. They maintain a stranglehold on the politics for their own vested interests,” Dar, who is contesting as an independent candidate, said.
In his affidavit before the EC, Dar has said he has moveable assets worth just Rs 4.5 lakh.
Among the prominent candidates from the Anantnag-Rajouri seat, PDP chief Mufti is the only one with net worth below Rs 1 crore. She has declared moveable and immovable assets worth Rs 75 lakh.
NC’s Ahmad is the richest candidate in this constituency with total assets worth Rs 21 crore.
In terms of educational qualification, Ahmad and Mufti, along with DPAP candidate Mohammad Saleem Parray, are law graduates while Apni Party candidate Zaffar Iqbal Manhas has Masters degrees in Persian and Urdu.
The constituency is scheduled to go to polls in the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections on May 7.
However, some political parties and candidates have written to the EC to postpone the elections due to inclement weather in Anantnag.
