Bhubaneswar: One hundred and twenty-six candidates in fray for the third phase of Assembly elections in Odisha are 'crorepati', with BJD candidate from Champua segment Sanatan Mahakud the richest with Rs 227.67 crore assets.
Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Keonjhar, Puri and Sambalpur Lok Sabha constituencies along with 42 assembly seats under these Lok Sabha segments will go to polls in the third phase polls in Odisha on May 25.
The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Odisha Election Watch have analysed the self-sworn affidavits of 381 out of 383 candidates, who are contesting for 42 MLA seats in Odisha.
In a report, the ADR said there are 126 (33 per cent) 'crorepati' candidates in fray for the third phase assembly polls in the state. Independent candidate from Ghasipura, Soumya Ranjan Patnaik is the second richet candidate after he declared family assets to the tune of Rs 122.86 crore.
The third place is occupied by the BJP candidate from Nayagarh Assembly segment, Pratyusha Rajeshwari Singh, who declared both movable and immovable assets of her family totalling Rs 120.56 crore.
"The role of money power in our elections is evident from the fact that all major political parties give tickets to wealthy candidates. Among the major parties, 36 out of 42 candidates analysed from BJD, 29 are from Congress, 28 from BJP and four from AAP have declared assets valued more than Rs 1 crore," the report said.
The average assets per candidate contesting in the Odisha Assembly elections 2024 (phase-III) is Rs 3.47 crore.
Three candidates with low assets are Samruddha Odisha's Kailash Chandra Nayak (Rs 1,000) contesting from the Baramba MLA segment, independent candidate Sukanta Ghadai (Rs 2,000) from Brahmagiri and CPI (ML) Red Star nominee Gopinath Nayak (Rs 2,000) from Bhubaneswar North, it said.
Out of 381 candidates analysed, 100 candidates have declared criminal cases against them, among whom, 86 are facing serious criminal cases.
Among the major parties, 23 BJP candidates, one CPI(M) candidate, 13 Congress candidates and 12 BJD nominees have declared serious criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.
The report further said that 155 candidates have declared their educational qualifications to be between 5th and 12th standard while 210 candidates are graduates or above. Besides, 12 candidates are diploma holders while two candidates have declared themselves to be just literate and another two candidates are illiterates.