Srinagar, Sep 24: Ahead of the Jammu & Kashmir 2024 Assembly Elections, Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari of the Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party has emerged as the richest candidate in the race, declaring total assets worth Rs 165 crore.
Data accessed by news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), reveals that Bukhari, contesting from Channapora in Srinagar, leads a wealthy lineup of candidates, followed closely by Congress leader Tariq Hameed Karra, who is contesting from Srinagar’s Central Shalteng constituency with assets worth Rs 148 crore.
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.
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.
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.
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—(KNO)
