J-K polls: Rich candidates galore across political spectrum, says ADR

In its analysis of the affidavits of the 873 candidates contesting the 2024 Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls, the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) has noted that the “role of money power in our elections is evident from the fact that all major political parties give tickets to wealthy candidates”.

The average of assets per candidate is Rs 3.65 crore. In the 2014 Assembly polls, the average asset per candidate (a total of 831 candidates) was Rs 1.93 crore.

Among major parties, the average assets per candidate for 62 BJP candidates is Rs 9.13 crore, 56 J&K National Conference (JKNC) candidates is Rs 8.26 crore, 39 Congress candidates have average assets of Rs 8.08 crore, and 80 People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidates have average assets of Rs 5.27 crore.

Top three candidates with highest declared assets are J&K Apni Party's Channapora candidate Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari (Rs 165 crore), Congress’ Central Shalteng candidate Tariq Hameed Karra (Rs 148 crore), and BJP’s Nagrota candidate Devender Singh Rana (Rs 126 crore).

According to ADR’s analysis, 152 (17 per cent) of the total candidates in the fray have declared criminal cases against themselves. In the 2014 Assembly polls, 6 per cent of the total candidates had declared criminal cases against themselves.

Only 43 (5 per cent of the total 873) women candidates are contesting in the J&K polls. In 2014, of the total 831 candidates, 29 (3.48 per cent) were women.