J&K Poll 2014: 55 crorepatis, 28 school dropouts, 9 criminals contest in 2nd phase

Out of the 175 candidates who will contest the 18 constituencies of Jammu and Kashmir in the second phase of polls tomorrow, 97 or more than 50 percent are not graduates and nine have criminal cases against them. [caption id=“attachment_1829139” align=“alignleft” width=“310”]  Source: ADR[/caption] The affidavits submitted by the candidates along with their nomination papers suggest that nine of them are illiterate while 28 are school drop-outs, according to the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR). Financial details A total of 55 candidates or 31 percent are crorepatis and have declared their properties to be worth over Rs 1 crore. There are only eight women candidates in the fray. Party-wise Crorepati Candidates: Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has the highest number of crorepatis Congress too has nine but out of 18. National Conference (NC) has eight crorepati candidates, BJP has seven and 12 out of 52 Independent candidates have declared assets worth more than Rs 1 crore. Kuldeep Raj Dubey, BJP candidate from Gool Arnas has declared highest assets worth Rs 14.10 crore, while five other candidates, including separatist-turned-mainstream Sajad Gani Lone, have declared more than Rs 10 crore worth of assets in their affidavits. Lone, who is contesting on Handwara seat, has assets worth Rs 13.98 crore including moveable assets worth Rs 38.45 lakh. Interestingly, a total of 11 candidates have declared zero assets in their affidavits, while five candidates have declared liabilities of Rs 1 crore and above. The average assets per candidate contesting in the second phase of Jammu and Kashmir elections is Rs.1.41 crore. Among major parties, the average assets per candidate for 18 Congress  candidates is Rs 1.78 crore, 16 JKPDP candidates have average assets of Rs 2.01 crore, 18 JKNC candidates have average assets worth of Rs 1.74 crore and 17 BJP candidates have average assets of Rs 1.54 crore. Criminal cases  Nine, a total of five per cent, candidates have declared criminal cases against them, while six of them have serious criminal cases, including kidnapping, rioting and forgery registered against them. 1 out of 18 candidates from Congress, 1 out of 18 candidates from JKNC, 1 out of 17 candidates from BJP, 2 out of 16 candidates from JKNPP and 3 out of 52 Independent candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits. Balwant Singh Mankotia of National Panthers Party from Udhampur constituency, in Jammu regions, has declared a case related to kidnapping (IPC Section 363) against him in his poll affidavit. Education details: Nine candidates are illiterate, two are class five pass, while 26 are class eight pass and 30 have listed their educational qualification as class 10," ADR said. While 30 candidates have passed class 12, 18 are simple graduates and 26 professional graduates. “There are 25 post-graduate candidates, two have a doctorate degree and five have not listed their qualifications,” the analysis by the ADR said. Income-Tax: A whopping 62 percent have not declared income tax details 109 candidates or 62 percent have not declared their income tax details. Though some candidates may be exempted from filing income tax returns under rules, there are 20 candidates with assets worth more than Rs 1 crore, who have not declared such details. Party-wise the National Conference (NC) has the lowest number of such candidates who have not filed their IT details - five, while Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) and National Panthers Party (NPP) have the highest of 12 and 11 respectively. Nine candidates of Congress, nine of BJP, eight of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and four out of five Peoples Conference (PC) - headed by separatist-turned-mainstream Sajad Gani Lone - have not filed their I-T returns.There are 74 candidates who have not submitted their PAN details. Nine assembly segments each are going to polls in the second phase in both Jammu and Kashmir regions of the state. They are spread over five districts of Kupwara, Kulgam, Reasi, Udhampur and Poonch.