21% of candidates in the second phase have criminal backgrounds

Among the parties fielding such candidates, the Indian National Congress (INC) leads, followed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the National Conference (NC).

According to analysis by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), three candidates announced cases of attempt to murder (IPC Section 307) and seven candidates announced cases related to crimes against women. Out of these 7 candidates, 1 candidate declared a case of rape (Section 376 of IPC).
Regarding party candidates with criminal cases, 4 out of 26 candidates (15%) are from the BJP, 4 out of 17 candidates (24%) are from the BJP and 2 out of 6 candidates (33%) from Congress, 1 (5%) from BJP NC 20 people declared criminal cases in their affidavits.
For serious criminal cases, 1 out of 26 candidates (4%) are from the People’s Democratic Party, 3 out of 17 candidates (18%) are from the Bharatiya Janata Party, and 2 out of 6 candidates (33%) are from the BJP From the Congress Party, 1 out of 20 candidates (5%) from North Carolina have announced serious charges.
Furthermore, the ADR report said that 8 parliamentary constituencies (31% of 26 constituencies) have been declared “red alert constituencies” where three or more candidates contesting have declared criminal cases.
In terms of assets, 131 out of 238 candidates (55%) are corepatis. Among the major parties, all 6 candidates of the Congress Party (100%), 18 of the 20 candidates of the Congress Party (90%), 13 of the 17 candidates of the Bharatiya Janata Party (76 %) and 19 of the 26 (73%) candidates of the People’s Democratic Party have declared assets worth more than Rs 1 crore.

“The fact that all major political parties offer votes to wealthy candidates clearly illustrates the role of money power in our elections,” ADR stated.
The average assets of each candidate in the second phase of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections is Rs 580 crore. Among the major parties, the average assets of 6 Congress candidates are Rs 293.9 million, the average assets of 20 Congress candidates are Rs 112.1 million, and the average assets of 17 BJP candidates are Rs 110.7 million, The average assets of the 26 People’s Democratic Party candidates are Rs 5.24 billion.
The top 3 candidates with the highest declared assets in the second phase are all from Kashmir, including Syed Altaf Bukhari from Channapora (Rs 165 crore), Tariq Hameed Karra from Central Shalteng (Rs 149 crore) and Mushtaq Guroo (Rs 94 crore) from Channapora NC Contest.

On the education front, the ADR report said that 117 candidates (49%) declared that their educational qualifications were between Class 5 to 12th standard, while 114 candidates (48%) were graduates or above. Six candidates held diplomas, while one candidate declared himself illiterate.
In terms of age distribution, 84 (35%) candidates are between 25 and 40 years old, 105 candidates (44%) are between 41 and 60 years old, and 49 candidates (21%) are under Between 61 and 80 years old. Only 3% of candidates in the second phase of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections are women.