Srinagar, Sept 5: Among the prominent candidates who filed their nominations today for Phase II of the Assembly elections, Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) president Tariq Hameed Karra has declared a net worth of over Rs 190 crore, with his annual income also increasing since 2021. Nearly all candidates have reported a rise in their annual income.
According to the details submitted, 69-year-old Karra, contesting from Central Shalteng, has declared movable assets worth Rs 3.4 lakh, while his wife holds assets worth Rs 40 lakh.
Karra’s immovable assets total Rs 148 crore, including agricultural land valued at Rs 113.47 crore, commercial buildings worth over Rs 9 crore, and residential properties worth over Rs 25 crore.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, he had declared assets worth Rs 98 crore. His pension is his declared source of income, while his wife earns from her business.
Karra’s annual income rose from Rs 2.62 lakh in 2020-21 to Rs 7.77 lakh. His wife’s income, meanwhile, has remained stable at Rs 13 lakh since 2019.
J&K Peoples Conference’s Abid Ansari has seen his income nearly triple, from Rs 10 lakh in 2019 to Rs 28 lakh. His second wife’s income has doubled since 2020-21, from Rs 8.79 lakh to Rs 17.30 lakh.
77-year-old Ansari, contesting from Zadibal, has declared movable assets worth Rs 1.47 crore, with his first wife holding Rs 10 lakh and his second wife Rs 34.75 lakh.
He also owns immovable property valued at Rs 38 crore, while his second wife’s immovable assets are total Rs 3.20 crore. Ansari, with no liabilities, has listed pension and business as his sources of income, while his second wife earns a salary as a Government employee.
PDP’s first-time candidate from Habba Kadal, Arif Irshad Laigroo, has declared an annual income of Rs 2.21 lakh, down from Rs 3.80 lakh in 2021-22. He holds Rs 50,000 in hand, and his wife owns movable assets worth Rs 24.19 lakh.
Former SMC Commissioner Gazanfar Ali has reported a recent income of Rs 13 lakh but provided no details for previous years. He owns Rs 21 lakh in movable assets, while his wife owns Rs 28 lakh.
Gazanfar’s immovable assets total Rs 4.80 crore, with Rs 10 lakh in liabilities. He has declared his pension as his source of income and is contesting from Lal Chowk as an Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) candidate.
Awami National Conference’s Muzaffar Shah, running from Habba Kadal, has reported an annual income of Rs 15 lakh but has not provided income details for the past five years.
He holds Rs 21 lakh in movable property, while his wife’s movable assets amount to Rs 50 lakh. Shah also owns Rs 10 crore in immovable property, with a Rs 2 crore liability from a J&K Bank loan.
PDP senior leader Ghulam Nabi Lone (Hanjura) has declared Rs 2.22 crore in movable assets and Rs 1.76 crore in immovable property, while his wife owns Rs 9 lakh in movable assets. In 2014, he declared Rs 8 crore in assets.
Now, 70-year-old and contesting from Chrar-e-Sharief, Lone has declared an annual income of Rs 6.55 lakh, up from Rs 4.75 lakh in 2020-21, with liabilities totaling Rs 33 lakh. His pension is his declared source of income.
Jailed Sarjan Ahmad Wagay (Barkati), contesting from Ganderbal and Beerwah, after his papers were rejected from Pulwama, has declared no annual income and Rs 60 lakh in immovable assets, mostly land.
Another AIP candidate, Ishtiyaq Qadri, contesting from Habba Kadal, has not reported any income for the past five years, nor has his wife. Both are retired Government employees. Qadri has declared Rs 10 lakh in movable assets, while his wife owns Rs 8 lakh.
He has not declared any immovable assets, although his wife owns Rs 2 crore worth of immovable property, with an Rs 8 lakh liability from a housing loan.
Former NC legislator Muhammad Irfan Shah, contesting from Central Shalteng as an Independent against Karra, has not declared his own income but has reported his wife’s, which has risen from Rs 26 lakh in 2020-21 to Rs 30 lakh. He owns Rs 18.40 lakh in movable assets, while his wife holds Rs 30 lakh.
Shah, who has completed education up to class 12, owns Rs 4.5 crore in immovable property, while his wife owns Rs 2.5 crore, noted as inherited. His pension is his declared income, while his wife earns a salary as a Professor in the Higher Education Department. In 2014, he declared Rs 4 crore in assets.
Sheikh Ashiq, former KCCI president and an AIP candidate contesting from Ganderbal against Omar Abdullah, has seen his income nearly double, from Rs 4.80 lakh in 2019-20 to Rs 8.13 lakh in 2023-24.
A first-time candidate, Ashiq has declared Rs 67 lakh in movable assets, while his wife owns Rs 34 lakh. He has also declared Rs 95 lakh in immovable assets, with zero liabilities. His wife, a doctor by profession, has not had her income declared.
Former MLA Ishfaq Ahmad Sheikh, contesting as an Independent from Ganderbal, has not provided details about his or his wife’s income. He owns Rs 75,000 in movable assets, while his wife holds Rs 28.91 lakh. Ishfaq’s immovable property is valued at Rs 5 crore, with liabilities of Rs 5.27 lakh.
His pension is his declared income, while his wife, a sitting DDC Chairperson, has no declared income. In 2008, he declared Rs 51 lakh in assets, with no liabilities.
