The northeastern district of Jharkhand bordering West Bengal on one side, could be one of the poorest districts of the state and one among the two dozen poorest districts of the country (as per the aspirational districts list of Niti Aayog), but it is also home to the richest candidate of the assembly election
One of the candidates contesting for the Pakur assembly seat is not just the richest among 528 candidates contesting for 38 assembly seats in the second phase but also the richest among all 1,211 candidates in the fray for 81 seats. Aquil Akhtar, a Samajwadi Party candidate contesting the Pakur assembly seat in Jharkhand, has declared assets exceeding Rs 400 crore, making him the wealthiest candidate in the state's ongoing assembly elections.
He is followed by Niranjan Rai, an Independent candidate contesting from Dhanwar with declared assets of over Rs 137 crore.
Kandomani Bhumij, another independent candidate who contested the Potka (ST) seat in the first phase, voting for which concluded on Wednesday, is third on the list with net declared assets of over Rs 80 crore.
Akhtar is the richest among all candidates who contested elections this year. Abhishek Anand Jha, an independent candidate who contested the Lok Sabha elections in May this year from the Godda parliamentary seat, was the richest but with declared assets of just Rs 82 crore.
Though Akhtar, in his affidavit, said that part of his property (immovable) is inherited and a part of it was acquired by him between 1997 and 2018, his income tax return statements show a different picture. He filed an annual ITR of Rs 13,79,180 in the last financial year 2023-24, and during the preceding four years, it was even less. Taking an average of the ITR of the last five years, his annual income remained below Rs 9 lakh.
"It is nothing but God's grace if I was able to raise property. Everything is white, and that is why I declared it on oath," he said, adding that he is eager to work for the poor people of the region.
Akhtar blamed the four-term Congress MLA, Alamgir Alam, for the abject poverty of the region.
"He represented the seat for 20 years, and during that time, he was the speaker and minister as well, but the condition of the region is evident to one and all," he said. As Alam is in jail in a PMLA case registered by ED after the recovery of Rs 32 crore in cash from his aides' location in May this year, his wife Nishat Alam is contesting on a Congress ticket.
Ajsu party district president, a namesake of Alamgir Alam, however, counterblamed Akhtar for non-performance. "No one worked for the people here. Even Akhtar was an MLA on a JMM ticket for five years, but did he ever think about the locals?" he said, claiming that it was because of his non-performance that Ajsu decided to field a new face, Azhar Islam.
Akhtar was earlier with the Ajsu party and contested the 2019 elections on their ticket, but resigned in July this year.
A post-graduate in religious studies from Mecca, Akhtar has declared foreign trade, agriculture, and fishing as his occupations while attributing farming, horticulture, and trade as the source of income of his two wives — Muslema Khatun and Aisha Siddiqua.
The 59-year-old, soft-spoken richest candidate wants the electorate to decide the fate of the Pakur seat on November 20, saying that he wants to remain transparent with his electorate.
State convener of the Association for Democratic Reforms and National Election Watch, Sudhir Pal, said that the purpose of analysing affidavits filed by candidates is to let people know about the details of the candidates.
"Someone can be laborious and intelligent to increase his assets manifold, and having Rs 400 crore should not be a surprise, but people should also know the source of income of the candidate that they are going to vote for," he said.