rich-list-15-multimillionaires-in-the-fray-for-j-k-polls

The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly might as well be called a multimillionaire’s club after the elections are over as 15 wealthy candidates with assets worth millions (1 crore equals 10 million) are contesting this time round.

 

Financial disclosures have revealed candidates and their spouses to be holding significant amounts of wealth, particularly gold. The disclosures made public instantly attracted attention from both political and public spheres. 

 

Among the notable candidates is Ghulam Ahmad Mir, the Congress candidate from the Dooru assembly seat in South Kashmir, who tops the list with a staggering ₹15 crore worth of moveable and immoveable property.

 

The wives of political candidates too hold assets in gold. 

 

In fact, the wife of one candidate possesses 1,320 grams of the precious metal, more than any other candidate's spouse. 

 

In second place is the wife of PDP candidate Sartaj Madni from Devsar, with 700 grams of gold and assets worth over ₹46 lakh. 

 

Third place goes to the wife of Bijbehara candidate Abdul Rehman Veeri, who has 100 grams of gold.

 

Interestingly, these affluent candidates' wives are also millionaires.

 

 The wife of Banihal candidate Imtiyaz Ahmed Shan has assets in property totalling ₹11 crore.

 

The educational backgrounds of the candidates too vary significantly. Many male candidates have only completed general education, most clearing just Class 10 or Class 12. 

 

However, both women candidates from Kishtwar, Shagun Parihar of the BJP and Pooja Thakur of the National Conference (NC), are well-educated, holding MTech and MA, BEd degrees, respectively. 

 

Congress’s Pradeep Kumar, contesting from Doda West, has a PhD in English.

 

None of the candidates from BJP, Congress, NC, or DPAP contesting from Doda and Ramban have qualifications beyond Class 12.

 

After Mir, the other wealthy candidates are BJP’s Rakesh Singh with ₹13.45 crore and Sunil Kumar Sharma with ₹2.97 crore. 

 

Hasnain Masoodi of NC, Mehboob Iqbal of NC both have declared wealth of ₹7crore each and and Imtiyaz Ahmad Shan of PDP has ₹7.76 crore.