Jammu Kashmir Assembly elections: 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) said on Friday.
The average assets of the phase one candidates stood at Rs 3 crore.
18 out of 21 PDP candidates crorepatis
Party wise crorepatis and average assets
According to the report, 16 of the 18 candidates from the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) have assets surpassing Rs 1 crore.
Out of 16 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates, 11 declared themselves as crorepatis, while eight of nine Congress candidates revealed assets worth over Rs 1 crore.
Only one candidate of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) disclosed assets of more than Rs 1 crore. The party fielded a total of seven candidates in the first phase.
Within the parties, the average assets per candidate showed that PDP leads with an average of Rs 7.93 crore. The JKNC follows with an average of Rs 5.87 crore per candidate. BJP candidates average Rs 4.47 crore, while Congress candidates average Rs 4.35 crore. The AAP has a substantially lower average, at Rs 49.33 lakh per candidate.
Criminal record of the phase one candidates
In the first phase, a total of 16 per cent of candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves. Among these, 25 candidates have disclosed serious criminal cases. Additionally, four candidates have reported cases related to attempted murder. Two candidates have declared cases related to crimes against women, including one case related to rape.
Phase one elections will be held in 24 constituencies and subsequent elections will be held on September 25, and October 1, and the counting of votes will be done on October 8.
First Published: Sep 06 2024 | 3:29 PM IST