BJD's Pinaki Mishra richest among 417 candidates in Phase-III

Ruling BJD's Puri Lok Sabha candidate Pinaki Mishra is the richest among the 417 contestants in the fray in the third phase of polling in Odisha on April 23, according to a report of Odisha Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms.

Pinaki Mishra, three time MP who is seeking relection from Puri Lok Sabha seat, has a total asset worth Rs 117 crore followed by Bobby Mohanty, the Congress candidate from Baramba assembly seat in Cuttack seat with assets of Rs 106 crore, the report which was released Saturday said.

There are 61 candidates for six Lok Sabha seats and 356 for 42 assembly seats in the state in the third phase.

Polling will be held in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Puri, Dhenkanal, Keonjhar and Sambalpur Lok Sabha seats and assembly segments under their jurisdiction on April 23.

Among Lok Sabha poll candidates, Mishra is followed by BJP candidate Nitish Gang Deb from Sambalpur seat who owns assets worth Rs 26 crore and Congress' Dhenkanal candidate K P Singhdeo whose assets total Rs 15 crore.

Out of 61 candidates for the Lok Sabha polls 16 (27 per cent) nominees have assets worth more than Rs 1 crore.

Among the contestants for the assembly polls, Bobby Mohanty is followed by OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik, who is in the fray in Ghasipura assembly seat. Patnaik has total assets of Rs 60 crore and independent candidate from Champua in Keonjhar district has assets worth Rs 46 crore.

In terms of criminal background of 61 Lok Sabha candidates, the report said that 15 (25 per cent) candidates have declared criminal cases in their affidavits. The number of candidates with serious criminal cases is 10 which is 17 per cent of the Lok Sabha candidates whose fates will be decided in the third phase.

Out of 356 candidates in the assembly polls, 119 (34 per cent) candidates have declared criminal cases, while at least 101 candidates have admitted in their affidavits of having serious criminal cases against them.

While there are six women candidates for 6 Lok Sabha seats, the number is 38 for 42 assembly seats.