All the prominent political leaders who filed their nomination papers today for Phase-II of the Assembly elections have witnessed an increase in their annual income since 2019, despite most of them citing pension as their source of income.
National Conference (NC) vice president and former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has declared a net worth of Rs 55.24 lakh in the form of Rs 30 lakh worth of jewellery and other valuables, Rs 80,000 cash, and the rest in the form of FDs and bank deposits, with no liabilities.
He has also witnessed an increase in his annual income, from Rs 11.73 lakh in 2019-20 to Rs 14.52 lakh in 2023-24, with pension as a former legislator and Member of Parliament stated as the source of income.
Senior NC leader and former Minister Abdul Rahim Rather, as per his affidavit, stated an annual income of Rs 11 lakh for the financial year 2023-24, which has increased from Rs 4.75 lakh during 2019-20.
According to other financial details, Rather holds movable assets worth Rs 28 lakh, while his wife holds assets worth Rs 29 lakh. Regarding immovable property, Rather has assets worth Rs 6.47 crore, and his wife holds assets worth Rs 4.30 crore, with no liabilities and pension as source of income.
The NC leader, who holds a 1968 Master’s degree in Political Science, had declared assets worth Rs 4.47 crore in 2014 with Rs 5 lakh in liabilities.
Another senior NC leader and former Minister from Khanyar constituency, Ali Mohammad Sagar, has also witnessed an increase in annual income, up from Rs 7 lakh in 2019 to Rs 10 lakh in 2024, with pension declared as the source of income.
Regarding his assets, he holds movable assets worth Rs 29 lakh, while his wife has assets worth Rs 19 lakh. Concerning immovable property, Sagar has assets worth Rs 3 crore, and his wife has assets worth Rs 4 crore.
In 2014, he had declared assets worth Rs 2 crore with Rs 1 lakh in liabilities. He holds a B.A. L.L.B. degree from Kashmir University.
His son, Salman Sagar, who is contesting elections for the first time with business declared as the source of income, has declared an annual income of Rs 7 lakh, up from Rs 5 lakh in 2019.
Regarding his assets, he holds movable property worth Rs 1 crore, including 1,560 grams of gold and a 24% share in New Paradise Gas Agency. His wife has declared assets worth Rs 70 lakh, which include 1,855 grams of gold.
Salman, a B. Com graduate from Commerce College, Jammu, also has immovable assets worth Rs 3 crore with liabilities worth Rs 95 lakh, including a car loan and a gold loan. His wife, declared as a housewife, also has liabilities of Rs 66 lakh as a gold loan.
People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leader and former MLC Mohammad Khurshid Alam, who also filed his nomination papers, has declared an annual income of Rs 12 lakh in 2023-24, up from Rs 4 lakh declared in 2019-20. He has also declared his source of income as pension.
As per his affidavit, he holds movable assets worth Rs 66 lakh and immovable assets worth Rs 14.50 crore, with no liabilities. In 2014, he had declared total assets worth Rs 8 crore with Rs 8.16 lakh in liabilities.
Apni Party chief Altaf Bukhari-the richest candidate so far in the Phase-II nominations-who has declared business as his source of income, has an annual income of Rs 22 lakh, up from Rs 17 lakh in 2019.
The annual income of his wife has been declared as Rs 2.77 lakh, with movable assets worth over Rs 97 crore in her name, including Rs 1.25 crore worth of ornaments and other valuables.
Bukhari has declared movable assets worth Rs 4.30 crore and immovable assets worth Rs 51 lakh, including land with marble deposits in Kupwara. His wife also has immovable property worth Rs 12 crore in her name.
The Apni Party chief, who has declared zero liabilities, had recorded assets worth Rs 84 crore in 2014 with Rs 22 lakh in liabilities. He holds a 1980 Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Science. His wife is declared as salaried, employed in FIL Industries Pvt Ltd.
Another NC leader, Tanvir Sadiq, however, has recorded a decline in his annual income, which is Rs 4 lakh in 2024, down from Rs 4.50 lakh in 2019.
He has movable assets worth Rs 30 lakh, while his wife, is a dietician and entrepreneur, owns assets worth over Rs 1 crore, including Rs 25 lakh worth of gold and two TATA dumpers. He also holds immovable assets worth Rs 3 crore, including an apartment in Delhi.
Tanvir has declared liabilities worth Rs 1.80 lakh. The NC leader, who holds a 2003 Bachelor’s degree in IT and Management from Utkal University in Odisha, has declared his source of income as trading and his wife’s as transport hiring.
NC’s veteran woman leader Shamima Firdous, who is in the fray from Habba Kadal with pension declared as her sole source of income, has declared an annual income of Rs 10 lakh, up from Rs 8 lakh in 2019.
Her husband, a retired Government employee, has also seen an increase in his annual income, up from Rs 8 lakh in 2019 to Rs 21 lakh in 2024.
Shamima, who earned a B.A., L.L.B. in 1983, holds movable assets worth Rs 20.40 lakh, while her husband holds assets worth Rs 62 lakh. Additionally, she owns immovable assets worth Rs 29 lakh, while her husband has immovable properties worth Rs 2.50 crore.
In 2014, she declared assets worth Rs 3 crore with zero liabilities; however, her liabilities have increased to Rs 13 lakh in 2024.
PDP leader and former Minister Asiea Naqash, has recorded no increase in her annual income. In 2022, her annual income was Rs 4.90 lakh, the same for the 2024-25 financial year.
In 2014, she had declared assets worth Rs 4 crore with Rs 16 lakh in liabilities. However, that scenario has changed, with her assets increasing and liabilities decreasing.
In her affidavit, with pension noted as the source of income, she has declared movable assets worth Rs 1.97 crore and immovable assets worth Rs 4.5 crore. Her liabilities have decreased to Rs 5.49 lakh, now in the form of a car loan.
Former Deputy Mayor of Srinagar Sheikh Imran, who is contesting Assembly elections from Khanyar as an Independent for the first time, has seen a slight increase in annual income from Rs 4.12 lakh in 2021-22 to nearly Rs 5 lakh in 2024.
He holds movable assets worth Rs 5 crore, while his wife holds such assets worth Rs 28 lakh. Imran also owns immovable assets worth Rs 1.50 crore, and his wife owns assets worth Rs 1.90 crore, with Rs 26 lakh in liabilities. His source of income has been stated as business.
Former Srinagar Mayor Junaid Mattu, contesting polls as an Independent from Zadibal after resigning from the Apni Party, has seen a decline in annual income.
As per his affidavit, his income was Rs 12.74 lakh in 2019-20, and come down to nearly Rs 10 lakh in 2023-24. He and his wife have only movable assets, including a car, gold, cash in hand, and deposits in bank accounts.
Junaid, who earned a Bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University in 2009, has movable assets worth Rs 2.11 lakh, with a liability of Rs 2 lakh. His wife, who earns a monthly salary from a private company, has assets worth Rs 45.58 lakh with a liability of Rs 1.5 lakh in the form of a bank loan.
Apni Party’s Ashraf Mir, who also contested the Lok Sabha elections this year, has declared an increase in income since 2019, growing from Rs 13.36 lakh in 2019 to Rs 14.79 lakh in 2024. A 1995 MBA graduate, Mir owns movables worth Rs 1 crore, while his wife has assets worth Rs 1.50 crore.
He has immovable property worth Rs 30 crore with liabilities worth Rs 2.25 crore. In 2014, he had declared assets worth Rs 8.82 crore with zero liabilities. His sources of income have been declared as business and pension. (Daily Excelsior)