Lok Sabha polls 2014: Battle of contrasts unfolds in Anantnag

ANANTNAG: From those with law and medical degrees to one middle school pass out, from crorepatis to one with less than Rs 1,000 in his bank account, it is a battle of contrasts in this Lok Sabha seat where PDP's Mehbooba Mufti is challenging sitting MP from ruling NC, Mirza Mehboob Beg.

Three medical practitioners, two law graduates, two matriculates and a middle school pass out are among 12 contestants in the fray from this seat in south Kashmir.

According to the affidavits filed by the candidates along with their nomination papers for the April 24 electoral battle here, nine contestants have university degrees.

While Beg, AAP candidate Tanvir Maqbool Dar and National Panthers Party aspirant Syed Abid Ahmad Shah have degrees in medicine, PDP chief Mehbooba and BSP candidate Mohd Sharief are law graduates.

And, whereas BJP candidate Mushtaq Ahmad Malik and Samajwadi Party candidate Ghulam Nabi Shah have not studied beyond class X, All J-K Republican Party (AJKRP) contestant Mohammad Yaqoob Rather did not attend high school.

The richest among the candidates in the battle arena is the newly-launched Awami Ittehad Party (AIP)'s Tanveer Hussain. Holding a bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Hussain owns property worth Rs 2.32 crore.

There are three other 'crorepati' candidates in the fray here.

AAP candidate Dar owns property worth Rs 2.05 crore along with his wife while Indian Peoples Conference candidate Abdul Ahad Mir owns assets worth Rs 1.78 crore. AJKRP's Rather has property valued at Rs 1.26 crore.

The candidate with the lowest assets is SP's Shah, who has declared a net worth of Rs 20,974. The 33-year-old practitioner of alternative medicine does not own any immovable property and has only Rs 20,000 cash in hand and Rs 974 in his bank account.

Mehbooba Mufti, the PDP president, is the only candidate here who has a court case pending against her which was lodged by National Conference leader Ali Mohammad Sagar in 2004.

Sagar had filed a defamation case against Mehbooba after she alleged that he was facilitating the movement of bogus voters during the 2004 Lok Sabha polls, which the PDP chief had won from here.

The Anantnag Lok Sabha seat, which is going to polls on April 24, has an electorate of 12.72 lakh, including 6,01,688 female voters.