Srinagar, Oct 10 ( KINS) : A staggering 84% of the newly elected Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) in Jammu and Kashmir are crorepatis, marking a 9% rise since 2014. According to data compiled by the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), the average declared assets of these MLAs stand at ₹11.43 crore.
Over the past decade, the average declared wealth of MLAs has more than doubled, increasing from ₹4.56 crore in 2014. Notably, Congress President of Jammu and Kashmir, Tariq Hamid Karra, and BJP leader Devender Rana are among the wealthiest MLAs, with personal assets exceeding ₹100 crore.
The ADR data reveals that out of the 90 newly elected MLAs, 76 have declared assets worth over ₹1 crore. In contrast, in 2014, 75% (65 of 87) of the legislators were crorepatis. Karra, who represents the Central Shalteng constituency, tops the list with assets worth ₹148 crore, followed by BJP’s Devender Rana from Nagrota with ₹126 crore. National Conference (NC) MLA Mushtaq Ahmad Guroo, representing Chanapora, ranks third with assets totaling ₹94 crore.
On the other hand, Aam Aadmi Party’s Mehraj Malik is the poorest legislator in the newly elected assembly, with assets of just ₹29,070. He is the first MLA from the AAP in Jammu and Kashmir. NC’s Javaid Ahmad Mirchal, representing Karnah, is the second poorest with ₹3 lakh, while Kokernag MLA Zafar Ali Khatana, also from NC, has a net worth of ₹34 lakh.
The average wealth of the six Congress MLAs is over ₹30 crore, while the 29 BJP MLAs have an average net worth of ₹14.55 crore. NC’s 42 MLAs have an average of ₹8.47 crore, the three PDP MLAs average ₹4.25 crore, and the seven Independents have around ₹5 crore in assets.
According to ADR’s findings, 88% of NC MLAs (37 out of 42) are crorepatis, while 86% of BJP MLAs (25 out of 29) hold assets worth crores. All six Congress MLAs, as well as the lone MLAs from CPI(M) and People’s Conference, declared assets exceeding ₹1 crore.
In terms of asset brackets, 23 MLAs possess assets exceeding ₹10 crore, while 26 have assets between ₹5 crore and ₹10 crore. The majority of MLAs, 27 in total, have declared assets ranging from ₹1 crore to ₹5 crore, and 14 legislators reported having less than ₹1 crore.
“84% of Newly Elected J&K MLAs are Crorepatis, Up 9% Since 2014: ADR Report”
