BJD’s Santrupt Misra richest LS candidate

Bhubaneswar: The Biju Janata Dal nominee, Santrupt Misra, with a total asset of Rs 482.21 crore, has emerged as the richest Lok Sabha poll candidate among those in the fray for the May 25 elections in Odisha, according to a report. The Odisha Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) have analysed the self-sworn affidavits of all 64 candidates of the six Lok Sabha constituencies going to polls in the third phase in the State.

Voters of Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Keonjhar, Puri and Sambalpur Lok Sabha constituencies, along with 42 Assembly segments coming under these LS seats will exercise their franchise on May 25. As per the report, 28 (44 per cent) out of 64 Lok Sabha candidates are crorepatis, and the average of assets per candidate contesting in the phase-III Lok Sabha elections in Odisha stood at Rs 11.80 crore.

With a total asset of Rs 482.21 crore, BJD’s MP candidate for the Cuttack seat, Santrupt Misra, is the richest, followed by Abinash Samal (Rs 36.78 crore), who is contesting from the Dhenkanal Lok Sabha seat. The BSP nominee of Keonjhar Lok Sabha constituency, Ram Prasad Hembram, is the third richest candidate with a total asset of Rs 35.81 crore, it said.

Union Minister and BJP nominee from Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat, Dharmendra Pradhan, has declared that he owns assets worth Rs 6.92 crore, while Sambit Patra, BJP candidate from Puri, has declared assets worth Rs 1.98 crore.

The BJP national spokesperson and Bhubaneswar candidate, Aparajita Sarangi, has total assets worth Rs 4.62 crore, the report said.

Similarly, BJD nominees Pranab Prakash Das (Sambalpur), Arup Mohan Patnaik (Puri) and Manmath Kumar Routray (Bhubaneswar) have declared that they own assets of Rs 2.30 crore, Rs 22.97 crore and Rs 15.57 crore, respectively.

Three candidates with low assets are Dillip Kumar Baral (Rs 4,032), independently contesting from the Puri Lok Sabha seat, SUCI candidate Subash Chandra Bhoi (Rs 19,500) from Puri and Bharatiya Bikash Parishad nominee Natabar Maharana (Rs 25,000) from Bhubaneswar, the report said.

Out of 64 candidates, 18 have declared criminal cases against them and out of them, 13 are facing serious criminal cases. The report further said that 19 candidates have declared their educational qualification to be between class 8th and 12th, while 43 candidates have educational qualification of graduate or above. One candidate is a diploma holder, and another candidate declared himself as literate.

Moreover, eight candidates have declared their age to be between 25 and 40 years, while 45 candidates have declared their age to be between 41 and 60 years. Eleven candidates have declared their age to be between 61 and 80 years.