Srinagar — A whopping 84 per cent of newly elected MLAs in Jammu and Kashmir are crorepatis, a 9 per cent increase from 2014, with average declared assets of Rs 11.43 crore, according to data compiled by the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR).

The average declared assets of MLAs have more than doubled from Rs 4.56 crore a decade ago, the data showed.

Jammu and Kashmir Congress president Tariq Hamid Karra and BJP leader Devender Rana are among the richest MLAs with assets worth over Rs 100 crore.

According to ADR data, 76 of the 90 newly elected MLAs in Jammu and Kashmir have declared assets of more than Rs 1 crore. In 2014, only 65 of 87 legislators (75 per cent) were crorepatis.

Karra, who was elected from Central Shalteng seat, has declared assets worth Rs 148 crore and is the richest MLA in Jammu and Kashmir.

BJP leader Devender Rana, who won from Nagrota constituency, comes second with assets worth Rs 126 crore.

Businessman and National Conference (NC) MLA from Chanapora Mushtaq Ahmad Guroo is the third richest with assets worth Rs 94 crore.

AAP’s Mehraj Malik is the poorest legislator in Jammu and Kashmir with net assets of just Rs 29,070. He is the first AAP MLA in Jammu and Kashmir.

NC MLA from Karnah Javaid Ahmad Mirchal is the second poorest with assets worth Rs 3 lakh. His party colleague and Kokernag MLA Zafar Ali Khatana comes next with a net worth of Rs 34 lakh.

The average net worth of the six Congress MLAs is just over Rs 30 crore while that of the 29 BJP members is Rs 14.55 crore, according to ADR data.

NC’s 42 MLAs have average assets of Rs 8.47 crore, the three PDP members have average assets of Rs 4.25 crore and the average net worth of the seven Independents is around Rs 5 crore.

While 88 per cent (37) of NC MLAs are crorepatis, 86 per cent (25) of BJP MLAs have assets in crores.

All six Congress MLAs and the lone MLAs of CPI(M) and People’s Conference have declared assets in excess of Rs 1 crore.

While 23 MLAs have assets worth more than Rs 10 crore, 26 have assets worth more than Rs 5 crore but less than Rs 10 crore. The highest number of MLAs, 27, fall in the Rs 1 crore to Rs 5 crore bracket while 14 legislators have assets less than Rs 1 crore, ADR data showed. — (PTI)

Suhail Khan

Sopore, Oct 10 : Two weeks ago, during election campaigning, National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah visited Sopore and addressed the people, stating that if Sopore’s candidate Irshad Rasool Kar won by a substantial margin, he would be directly appointed to a cabinet minister position. Remarkably, just a day before the Assembly poll results were announced, Irshad Rasool Kar not only achieved substantial victory but also became the first NC candidate to win in the assembly elections of 2024, securing the highest margin of over 20,000 votes.

Amid the celebrations and cheers, the question remains: Will Omar Abdullah fulfill his promise? Every National Conference worker, residents of Sopore hopes that this time, Sopore will write its own destiny and have its own cabinet minister in the upcoming assembly who will voice the concerns of the constituency, advance its issues, and realize the dreams of every voter.

Sopore, often overlooked and burdened by negative perceptions during elections, has made a remarkable turnaround in this assembly election and caught the world’s attention, by participating in the electoral process with a high turnout and creating a festive atmosphere from the outset. On Tuesday, with the assembly poll results announced, National Conference candidate Irshad Rasool Kar emerged as the top vote-getter, achieving a historic victory with an impressive margin of 20,356 votes.

According to data available with Kashmir Despatch, a total of 20 candidates contested for the Sopore Assembly Constituency seat, including Congress candidate and former MLA Haji Abdul Rashid, AIP candidate Advocate Mursaleen, PDP’s Irfan Ali, among others.

Irshad Rasool Kar secured a total of 26,975 votes, while Advocate Mursaleen came in second with 6,619 votes, and two-time former MLA Haji Abdul Rashid Dar received 5,167 votes.

With this victory, the National Conference has made history in Sopore, winning with a margin not seen in four decades. Before militancy, Syed Ali Shah had won with a massive margin of around 24,000 votes. Today, Irshad Rasool Kar has broken that record, marking a new chapter in Sopore’s history and fulfilling the challenge laid out by his leader, Vice President Omar Abdullah, with over 20,000 votes in 2024 assembly elections.

Now, all eyes are on Omar Abdullah. Can he fulfill his promise? Will Irshad Kar receive a ministerial post?

Pertinently, this is the second time in 2024 that Omar Abdullah has made promises in Sopore. Previously, during the Lok Sabha elections, he visited town and assured the public that Irshad Rasool Kar would contest in the assembly elections. Now, after fulfilling that promise, all eyes are on whether he will keep this new promise. Will Irshad Rasool Kar be appointed to a ministerial post? This remains the hot topic in Sopore.

Meanwhile, the formation of the ministry will be crucial, as the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act of 2019 restricts the strength of the Council of Ministers to 10 percent of the total number of members in the Legislative Assembly.

“The UT of Jammu and Kashmir will have a Council of Ministers of not more than 10 percent of the total number of members in the Assembly,” the Reorganization Act states.

J&K has a 90-member Assembly, with provisions for the nomination of five members, including two women, two Kashmiri Pandits (one of whom must be a woman), and one refugee from PoJK, bringing the total House strength to 95.

Ten percent of this assembly means that J&K can have either 9 or 10 ministers, including the Chief Minister. Additionally, two MLAs can be elected as the Legislative Assembly Speaker and Deputy Speaker.

Political observers suggest that accommodating independent candidates will be a challenging task for the National Conference, as the party has already won 42 seats. Out of the 43 assembly seats in the Jammu division, the BJP has won 29, NC has secured 7, and Independents have won 5, with Congress and AAP each holding one seat.

Two MLAs to be Speaker, Dy Speaker

JAMMU, Oct 10: The National Conference and Congress leaderships are reported to be in touch with five Independent candidates who emerged victorious in the Jammu division and at least three of them could side with the NC but they were not available for the comments immediately.

Though the National Conference and Congress alliance has gained majority in the Legislative Assembly winning 49 seats in the House of 90, the two parties want to increase their strength in the Jammu division where their performance especially that of the Congress, was far below the expectation as the party won just one seat. NC, however, managed to get good number of seven seats in the region.

Of 42 seats won by the NC, there are only two Hindu faces—Surinder Choudhary and Arjun Singh Raju who won the elections from Nowshera and Ramban constituencies while all Hindu candidates of the Congress lost.

Five Independent candidates who emerged victorious in the Jammu region are Satish Sharma (Chhamb), Dr Romeshwar Singh (Bani), Pyare Lal Sharma (Inderwal), Choudhary Mohammad Akram (Surankote) and Muzaffar Khan (Thannamandi).

Pyare Lal and Muzaffar Khan, who had taken VRS as Judge, were the NC leaders who jumped into the election fray as Independent candidates after their seats of Inderwal and Thannamandi went to Congress under the seat-sharing pact of two parties. Satish Sharma, who is son of prominent Congress leader late Madan Lal Sharma (two-time MP and ex Minister) was affiliated with the Congress and contested the election from Chhamb after the party preferred its working president Tara Chand over him in the mandate.

Choudhary Akram, who is also son of Congress stalwart and former MP and Minister late Choudhary Aslam, won 2014 seat in Surankote from Congress but was trying for NC mandate this time. However, Surankote seat was allotted to Congress as per the alliance.

Dr Romeshwar Singh, who won Bani seat in Kathua district, has no direct political affiliation.

Some of the Independents without getting quoted confirmed to the Excelsior that they have been approached by the political parties mainly the National Conference and Congress.

There were indications that Pyare Lal Sharma, Muzaffar Khan and Choudhary Mohammad Akram have inclination towards the National Conference while Satish Sharma and Dr Romeshwar Singh are still weighing their options.

If the three Independent candidates side with the NC, the party’s tally will go up to 45, just three shot of the majority mark of 48, while its seats in Jammu division will reach in two digits at 10.

If any of the two Independent Hindu MLAs opt to go with the Congress, the party will get a Hindu face as all its Hindu candidates lost the election.

Formation of the Ministry, as per the political observers, will also be crucial as Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, 2019 has restricted strength of the Council of Minister to 10 percent of total numbers of the Legislative Assembly.

“The UT of Jammu and Kashmir will have a Council of Ministers of not more than 10 percent of total number of members in the Assembly,’’ the Reorganization Act states.

J&K has 90-member Assembly plus there is a provision of nomination of five members including two women, two Kashmiri Pandits, one of them a woman, and a PoJK refugee which will take the House strength to 95.

Ten percent strength of the Ministry which comes out at 9.5 means that J&K can have either 9 or 10 Ministers including the Chief Minister.

Besides, two MLAs can be elected as the Legislative Assembly Speaker and Deputy Speaker.

Therefore, the political observers opined, accommodating the Independent candidates will be a tough task for the National Conference as the party has already won 42 seats.

Out of 43 Assembly seats in Jammu division, the BJP has won 29, NC 7, Independents 5, Congress and AAP one each. (Agencies)