List of crorepati MLAs in Odisha assembly increases

It now has at least 76 crorepatis while their were only 32 after the 2009 elections

Odisha assembly this time will have at least 76 crorepatis while their were only 32 after the 2009 elections, according to a report by Odisha Election Watch (OEW).

Out of the 147 winners analysed by the OEW, 76 (52 %) winners are crorepatis while there were only 32 (24 %) crorepati winners in last assembly polls, said Ranjan Mohanty, state coordinator of the OEW.

While 62 (53 %) out of 117 winners from BJD are crorepatis, nine (56 %) out 16 winners come from Congress and four (40 %) out of the ten from BJP are crorepatis.

The average assets of 147 winners is Rs 3.22 crores.

The average assets per winner for 117 BJD winners is Rs 2.03 crores, for ten BJP winners the average is Rs 13.44 crores and for 16 Congress MLAs it is Rs 1.92 crores, the report said.

The top three winners with highest declared assets are identified as Dilip Kumar Ray of BJP from Rourkela (Rs 106 cr), Independent Sanatan Mahakud from Champua (Rs 69 crore) and BJP's Nitesh Gangadeb from Deogarh (Rs 17 crore).

Three winners with lowest declared assets are all from BJD. They are Priyanshu Pradhan from Chhatrapur (Rs 2.76 lakh), Basanti Mallick from Mohana (Rs 3 lakh) and Ramesh Patua (Rs 3 lakh) from Rengali.

Meanwhile, at least 52 (35 %) of the 147 winners this time have declared criminal cases against them while in 2009 there were 42 (31 %) winners with criminal cases out of the 134 winners, it said.

In terms party-wise winners with criminal cases, Mohanty said, 32 (27 %) out of 117 winners from BJD have declared criminal cases against them while nine (56 %) of the 16 from Congress and eight (80 %) out of 10 from BJP have declared criminal cases in their affidavits.

Significantly, the OEW report said that 23 (20 %) out of 117 winners from the BJD have declared serious criminal cases against them while eight out of 16 winners from Congress and seven out of 10 winners from BJP have declared serious criminal cases in their affidavits.