With Rs 1,000 in assets, BJP J&K chief among ‘poorest’ in fray, shows decline from 2014

Raina has, successful fact, registered a diminution successful assets from 2014, erstwhile helium archetypal won the Nowshera seat, located successful Rajouri borderline district. At the time, helium had declared Rs 20,000 arsenic currency successful manus and Rs 1,000 successful his J&K Bank savings account. Then too, helium had declared nary immoveable properties oregon liabilities.

As galore arsenic six candidates successful J&K contention – 5 of them Independents – person declared zero assets, including Vishal Kumar, Bishnah; Asif D M, Jammu East; Raj Kumar Lalotra, Jammu West; Shahid Hussain Mir, Handwara; and Zahid Mushtaq Sheikh, Handwara. The non-Independent poorest campaigner is Sudesh Kumar, the PDP nominee from Kathua, arsenic per information compiled by the Association for Democratic Reforms.

Another Independent, Mohd Akram, contesting from Surankote, besides successful Jammu, has declared Rs 500 successful manus arsenic his full assets.

Of each these minimal plus candidates, Raina is the astir prominent. The erstwhile RSS pracharak has declared nary savings successful the bank, nary acquisition oregon inheritance of immoderate moveable oregon immoveable property, including gold, investments, cultivation oregon non-agricultural land, and nary location oregon vehicle. Raina has besides declared that helium has nary liabilities, with his income-tax returns showing zero yearly income for each of the past 5 years.

His lone root of income listed is his “legislator pension”. Before the J&K Assembly was dissolved successful 2018, MLAs earned a monthly wage of Rs 1 lakh, portion erstwhile MLAs gain a monthly pension of Rs 50,000.

Raina presently resides astatine a authorities accommodation, which was allotted to him arsenic an MLA, successful the posh Gandhi Nagar locality of Jammu city.

While Raina could not beryllium contacted, his relative Rakesh Raina said that since 2018, erstwhile helium was archetypal appointed the J&K BJP chief, the sitting Nowshera MLA has been donating his full pension to the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Trust, for its foundation work, with the enactment taking attraction of his regular needs including food, lodging and transport. Prior to his assignment arsenic the enactment president, Rakesh said, Raina would donate his MLA wage to the spot aft gathering his ain needs.

Those adjacent to him accidental Raina has maintained this since earlier joining progressive politics. As an RSS pracharak successful Rajouri’s Dangri village, helium is known to person stayed astatine an ashram.

A BSc grade holder with a post-graduate diploma successful “human rights and duties”, Raina joined the Merchant Navy successful 2000 but discontinue successful little than 3 months, erstwhile helium joined the RSS. He worked arsenic a pracharak for implicit a decennary successful the Rajouri territory earlier contesting his maiden Assembly predetermination from Nowshera successful 2014. He had besides served arsenic the J&K president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, the BJP’s younker wing.

Raina’s begetter Pushap Dutt Raina, a retired schoolhouse headmaster, and parent unrecorded with the household of his younger member Sunil Raina, who works successful the Army.

Raina highlights his humble surviving astatine his canvass rallies, similar precocious erstwhile during a gathering successful Nowshera, helium enactment his manus successful the pouch of his kurta to amusement the assemblage that it was torn.

Raina’s governmental opponents are sceptical, peculiarly since has been an MLA for much than 4 years. But fewer question this connected record.

Raina’s assets apart, those of his enactment colleagues person mostly seen a emergence since the past Assembly polls. The BJP’s 62 candidates connected mean person assets worthy Rs 9.13 crore; the wide mean of the 873 candidates successful the fray is Rs 3.65 crore.