Niranjan, Navajyoti richest candidates in fourth phase polls in Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Niranjan Patnaik and his son Navajyoti have emerged as the richest candidates in the fray for the fourth phase of Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in the state, according to a report.

Sx Lok Sabha constituencies – Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur – and 42 Odisha Assembly seats under them will go to polls in the final phase on April 29.

Navajyoti Patnaik contesting from Balasore Lok Sabha seat on Congress ticket has a total asset of Rs 104 crore. He was found to be the wealthiest among the 52 candidates contesting the Lok Sabha polls.

Niranjan Patnaik, who is contesting from Bhandaripokhari Assembly seat, figured on top of the list of 334 Assembly candidates with property worth Rs 60 crore.

According to the report by Odisha Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), a total of 17 Lok Sabha candidates have assets worth more than Rs 1 crore.

Navajyoti is followed by Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MP candidate from Balasore, Rabindra Jena and Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Kendrapara Lok Sabha candidate Baijayant Panda with assets worth Rs 72 crore and Rs 57 crore respectively.

The average of assets per candidate contesting the fourth phase Lok Sabha polls in Odisha is Rs 5.29 crore.

Among the Assembly segments, out of the 334 candidates, 81 are crorepatis.

The PCC President is followed by Congress’ Jagatsinghpur candidate Chiranjeev Biswal with over Rs 33 crore and BJD’s Dharmasala candidate Pranab Balabantantray with assets of over Rs 17 crore.

The average of assets per Assembly candidate is Rs 1.21 crore in the fourth phase.

Among the major parties, 27 from BJD, 23 from Congress, 20 from BJP, each one from AAP and from AITC have declared assets worth more than Rs 1 crore.