81 crorepatis in fray for 2nd phase

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Bhubaneswar: As many as 81 candidates contesting for the second phase of Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Odisha are crorepatis, with Biju Janata Dal (BJD) President and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik topping the list, said a report Monday.
According to the Odisha Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) report, out of the 35 Lok Sabha candidates, 11 have assets worth over `1 crore. BJP’s Bolangir Lok Sabha candidate Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo has assets over `37 crore, while BJD candidate from the same Lok Sabha seat Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo has assets over `20 crore.
BJD’s Bargarh Lok Sabha candidate Prasanna Acharya owns total assets worth over ` 9 crore. The average of assets per candidate contesting the second phase of Lok Sabha polls is `2.65 crore, the report said.
The ADR also analysed the affidavits submitted by 241 out of the 244 candidates contesting for 35 Assembly segments. Seventy of these candidates are crorepatis. Naveen Patnaik, who is contesting from two Assembly constituencies — Hinjili and Bijepur — owns assets worth `63.87 crore.
While the BJP candidate from Patnagarh Assembly seat KV Singhdeo has total assets of `37.95 crore, the BJD candidate from Jharsuguda Naba Kishore Das owns assets worth `33.62 crore.
Among the candidates, 21 from BJD, 20 from BJP, 13 from Congress, and one from Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have declared assets worth more than `1 crore.
The second phase of polling will be held for Bargarh, Sundargarh, Bolangir, Kandhamal and Aska Lok Sabha seats and 35 Assembly seats under them April 18.
Seven out of 35 candidates who are contesting from five LS seats– Bargarh, Sundargarh, Bolangir, Kandhamal and Aska– have criminal cases lodged against them while five have serious charges. BJP’s LS nominees have criminal cases against them, while the Congress has two candidates with criminal cases; BJD candidates for phase II have no criminal cases.