Jagatsinghpur: Elections to the lone parliamentary and four Assembly seats in Jagatsinghpur district will be held in the fourth phase April 29.
The elections in some seats are going to see a clash between crorepatis. With the campaign peaking up, the public is hearing rumours about crorepati leaders whose net worth came out through their affidavits.
The wealthiest leader in the district is Chiranjibi Biswal, who is contesting as a Congress nominee in Jagatsinghpur Assembly seat. His family’s assets are worth Rs 33.89 crore.
The other leaders in the fray whose net worth is being talked about are Damodar Rout, Bishnu Das, Satyabrat Mohapatra and Prashant Muduli.
The BJP has fielded Damodar Rout as its candidate in Balikuda-Erasama Assembly seat. Rout was earlier in the BJD. He has assets worth Rs 1.91 crore.
The Deputy Chairperson of the State Planning Board, Bishnu Charan Das, has been fielded as a BJD nominee in Tirtol Assembly seat. Das owns properties worth around Rs 2.81 crore.
Another rich leader in the district is Prashant Kumar Muduli, the BJD nominee in the Jagatsinghpur Assembly seat.
Another candidate whose net worth has drawn public attention is Satyabrata Mohpatra, who has been fielded by the BJP in Jagatsinghpur Assembly seat. Mohpatra owns assets worth Rs 1.86 crore.
But Raghunandan Das, the BJD nominee in Balikuda-Erasama, owns only assets worth Rs 66.20 lakh.
However, political and public circles are agog with rumours about the value of the properties these leaders have shown in their affidavits and their real values. There is also talks about their campaign spending.
The general impression is that the candidates of the Congress, the BJD and the BJP are spending not less than Rs 1 crore each. But in some Assembly seats the spending is around Rs 8 to 10 crore.
PNN