Bhubaneswar: As many as 95 of the 265 candidates in fray for 35 Assembly seats in the state going to polls in the second phase (fifth nationally) May 20 are crorepatis, according to a report of the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Odisha Election Watch. Party-wise, the ruling BJD has 30 crorepatis, followed by 24 each from BJP and Congress and three from Aam Aadmi Party which had fielded candidates in 10 Assembly seats. The three major political parties are contesting all the 35 Assembly seats. Interestingly, 10 Independents contesting the Assembly elections in the second phase are also crorepatis, also one each from the CPI and CPM.
Among the top 10 crorepatis in the fray in the 35 Assembly seats, the ruling BJD accounts for six, followed by two each in BJP and the Congress. BJP’s Rourkela candidate Dilip Ray, a former Union minister, topped the list with total assets of over Rs 313 crore, followed by Kalikesh Singdeo of BJD with Rs 73.66 crore, and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik who has declared his assets at Rs 71.07 crore. BJP candidate for Patnagarh KV Singhdeo belonging to the Royal family has declared Rs 67.30 crore assets. Saroj Mukar Meher, sitting BJD MLA from Patnagarh who is seeking re-election, has declared his assets at Rs 67.27 crore. BJD candidate from Jharsuguda Dipali Das, daughter of former Health minister Naba Kishore Das who was shot dead by a police ASI, has declared her assets at Rs 37.35 crore. Two Congress candidates Anil Meher contesting from Patnagarh and Nakul Nayak from Daspalla are also crorepatis with total assets of Rs 14.59 crore and Rs 14.26 crore, respectively.
The candidates having the lowest assets are Pradeep Sahu, an Independent contesting Boudh Assembly seat who has declared his assets at Rs 7,000 only. The other two candidates having the lowest assets are Abhiram Dharua from Kantabanji and Satyanaraya Bohidar from Titlagarh Assembly seat declaring their assets at Rs 8,000 and Rs 11,000 respectively. The report said Independent candidate Sohan Sipka contesting the Kantabanji Assembly seat has declared zero assets. Similarly, 13 out of 40 candidates contesting the five Lok Sabha seats, going to polls May 20 in the state, are crorepatis. While four each are from the ruling BJD, BJP and the Congress, one is an Independent candidate. The report said the average assets of a BJD candidate in the 35 Assembly seats is Rs 12.09 crore, while that of a BJP candidate is Rs 13.11 crore and in the case of Congress candidate, it is Rs 2.95 crore. Out of 265 candidates, 87 (33 per cent) candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves.
At least 70 of them are facing serious criminal cases. The report said five candidates have declared cases related to murder, while 16 others are facing attempt to murder cases, and 11 are accused of crimes against women. Among the major parties, 28 (80 per cent) candidates from BJP, 17 (52 per cent) from Congress, nine (26 per cent) from BJD and four (40 per cent) out of 10 AAP candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits, it said. On education details of candidates, the report said that 130 nominees have declared their qualifications to be between 5th and 12th standard pass, while 122 candidates are graduates or above. Only 41 (15 per cent) female candidates are contesting in the phase II Odisha Assembly election.