Over one-fifth of the candidates in the upcoming phase two of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls have criminal cases registered against them with the Congress leading in terms of the percentage of such candidates.
A report released by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) has revealed that of the 238 candidates who were analysed on the basis of the affidavits submitted to the Election Commission of India, 49 have declared criminal cases against them. Of these, 37, that is 16 per cent, have serious criminal cases against them.
In this serious offence category, three have cases of attempt to murder; seven have cases of crimes against women, out of which one candidate is accused of rape.
Among the major parties, four (15 per cent) out of 26 candidates analysed from Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party (JKPDP), four (24 per cent) out of 17 candidates analysed from BJP, two (33 per cent) out of six candidates analysed from the Congress, and one (5 per cent) out of 20 candidates analysed from Jammu Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.
Based on the above analysis, eight of the 26 constituencies that will go to the polls in phase two are red alert constituencies. Such constituencies are those where three or more contesting candidates have declared criminal cases against them.
The analysis also reveals that more than half the candidates are crorepatis.
The release reads, “The role of money power in our elections is evident from the fact that all major political parties give tickets to wealthy candidates.”
All the candidates of the Congress fall in the crorepati category. Next is the JKNC where 90 per cent of the candidates are crorepatis, followed by the BJP where 76 per cent of the candidates have assets worth more than a crore. The least number of crorepati candidates have been fielded by the JKPDP.
Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari of the Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party who is contesting from Channapora is the richest candidate with assets worth Rs 162 crore. The candidate with the least assets, totalling just Rs 500, is Mohd Akram who is fighting from Poonch as an independent candidate.
The average asset of the contesting candidates is Rs 5.80 crore.
The most common age bracket of contesting candidates is 41 to 60 years, with 25 to 40 being the second most common category.
Almost half (49 per cent) of the candidates have educational qualifications ranging from class V and XII. The next most common qualification (48 per cent) is graduate or above, while six are diploma holders. Just one candidate is illiterate.