44% of Candidates in Odisha’s Third Phase Polls Are Crorepatis

Forty-four percent of the candidates contesting the Lok Sabha polls in the third phase in Odisha are crorepatis, and 28 percent of them have criminal records. The average assets per candidate in this round are Rs 11.8 crore.

Simultaneous Assembly and General Elections will be held in six Parliamentary constituencies and 42 Assembly segments in the third phase on May 25. A total of 64 candidates, including nine women, are in the fray from Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Keonjhar, Puri, and Sambalpur constituencies. The highest number of contenders, 14, are contesting from Sambalpur, followed by 12 from Bhubaneswar, 11 from Keonjhar, 10 each from Cuttack and Dhenkanal, and seven from Puri. At least 28 candidates have assets worth more than Rs 1 crore.

According to poll affidavits analyzed by Odisha Election and the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), the BJD appears to prefer wealthy politicians, as all six candidates of the regional outfit contesting in this phase of the Lok Sabha elections are crorepatis. The average assets per BJD candidate are Rs 95.69 crore.

While the BJP and Congress have fielded four crorepati candidates each, three of the five BSP candidates and one from Utkal Samaj are crorepatis. The average assets per BSP candidate are Rs 7.97 crore, and those of the BJP and Congress are Rs 5.8 crore and Rs 2.21 crore, respectively.

With assets worth over Rs 482.21 crore, Santrupt Misra, the BJD candidate from Cuttack, is the richest. BJD’s Dhenkanal candidate, Abinash Samal, owns assets worth over Rs 36.78 crore, while BSP candidate from Keonjhar, Ram Prasad Hembram, ranks third with assets worth more than Rs 35.81 crore. Misra had the highest income of Rs 66.21 crore, while Samal had the maximum liabilities of Rs 13.95 crore. Dillip Kumar Baral, an independent candidate from Puri, is the poorest, with assets of only Rs 4,032.

Of the 64 candidates analyzed, 18 have declared criminal cases, and 13 of them have serious criminal cases pending against them. One candidate has declared cases related to murder, four have cases related to attempt-to-murder, and four have cases related to crimes against women. All six BJP candidates have declared criminal cases, with three of them having serious offenses pending against them. Three of the Congress candidates and two of the BJD candidates have declared serious criminal cases against them.

As for educational qualifications, 19 candidates have education levels between Class VIII and XII, while 43 are either graduates or hold higher degrees. Almost 70 percent of candidates are aged between 41 and 60 years, 11 are above 61 years old, and only eight are between 25 and 40 years old.

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