Phase IV polls: Father-son duo richest candidates in Odisha

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Bhubaneswar: Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Niranjan Patnaik and his son Navajyoti are the richest candidates contesting in the fourth phase of the simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Odisha slated for April 29.
Niranjan, who is contesting from Bhandaripokhari and Ghasipura Assembly constituencies, tops the list of wealthy MLA candidates with properties worth `60.34 crore, according to a report jointly released by ‘Odisha Election Watch’ and ‘Association for Democratic Reforms’ (ADR) here Friday. Congress’ Chiranjib Biswal is the second richest MLA candidate with assets worth `33.89 crore.
He is contesting from Jagatsinghpur Assembly constituency. BJD candidate from Dharmasala, Pranab Kumar Balabantaray, is in the third position with assets worth `17.24 crore.
The OPCC president’s son and Congress MP candidate from Balaosre, Navajyoti Patnaik, has declared assets worth `104.20 crore, the report said. Next in the list is Rabindra Kumar Jena of the BJD, who is worth `72.16 crore. Jena is contesting from the Balasore Lok Sabha constituency. He is followed by BJP nominee from the Kendrapara Lok Sabha constituency Baijayant Panda who has assets worth `57.44 crore.
Out of 52 MP candidates in fray for the April 29 polls, seven (13%) have declared criminal cases against them and six (12%) are facing serious criminal charges, the report said.
The ADR has analysed the self-sworn affidavits of 334 out of 346 MLA candidates and have found that 72 (22%) candidates have declared criminal cases pending against them. Among the major parties, 24 (60%) out of 40 candidates from the BJP, 12 (31%) out of 39 candidates from Congress, 15 (39%) out of 39 from BJD, and one (3%) out of 31 from BSP have declared criminal cases against them in their affidavits.
Fifty-two (16%) Assembly candidates have serious criminal cases against them. Three are have allegedly been involved in murders, while eight have charges relating to crime against women.