412 'crorepati' candidates contesting Odisha Assembly polls, maximum from BJD

Bhubaneswar: As many as 412 'crorepati' candidates are contesting the Odisha Assembly elections which are being held from May 13 to June 1.

The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Odisha Election Watch have analysed the self-sworn affidavits of 1,283 out of 1,285 candidates, who are contesting for the 147 MLA seats in Odisha.

Assembly elections in Odisha are being held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha elections.

Out of the 1,283 candidates analysed, 412(32 per cent) are crorepatis. In the 2019 Odisha Assembly elections, out of 1,121 candidates, 304 (27 per cent) were crorepatis, the ADR said in its report.

"... 128 BJD candidates, 96 BJP nominees, 88 Congress candidates and 11 AAP candidates have declared assets valued more than Rs 1 crore," it said.

The average assets per candidate contesting in the Odisha Assembly elections 2024 is Rs 2.89 crore. In 2019, the average assets per MLA candidate were Rs 1.69 crore.

Former Coal Minister Dilip Ray has emerged as the richest candidate in the fray for the Assembly election in Odisha.

As per a report, Ray, a BJP nominee from the Rourkela Assembly segment is the richest nominee with a total asset of Rs 313.53 crore, followed by BJD candidate from Champua segment Sanatan Mahakud (Rs 227.67 crore).

The third palace is occupied by the BJD candidate from Basta Assembly segment, Subasini Jena, who declared both movable and immovable assets of Rs 135.17 crore.

Similarly, five candidates in the fray for the Assembly elections in Odisha have declared zero or nil assets in their affidavits, as per a report.

The zero asset candidates are— independent candidates Ramesh Kumar Mahanand (Bhawanipatna), Sohan Sipka (Kantabanji) and Sanjay Kumar Das (Dhamnagar), BSP candidate from Rayagada Purna Chandra Majhi, and Ambedkarite Party of India's Gopal Krushna Mohanty, who is contesting from Korei.

A total of 103 MLAs are re-contesting in 2024 Assembly polls, of which 74 are from BJD, 21 from BJP, five from Congress, two independents and one from CPI (M).

Out of the 1,283 candidates analysed, 348 (27 per cent) candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves. In the 2019 Odisha Assembly elections, out of 1,121 candidates analysed, 332(30 per cent) had declared criminal cases against themselves.

In this Assembly election, 292 candidates are facing serious criminal cases.

Similarly, 566 MLA candidates have declared their educational qualifications to be between class 5 and 12 while 652 candidates have an educational qualification of graduate or above. Besides, 51 candidates are diploma holders, 12 candidates are just literate and two candidates are illiterates, the report said.

Among the total candidates in the fray for the assembly polls, the highest 760 candidates are of the 41 to 60 years age group, 333 candidates are of the 25-40 age group, 188 candidates in the age between 61 to 80 years and 2 candidates have declared their age as more than 80 years old.

Only 178 (14 per cent) women candidates are contesting in the Assembly elections in the state in 2024 while 112(10 per cent) women candidates have contested in 2019 polls.