141 crorepatis in fray for 2nd phase assly polls in Odisha
Sanatan Mahakud richest aspirant; assets of Baraja Pardhan surges by 75 times
As many as 141 crorepatis and 186 persons with criminal charges are contesting in the second half of the assembly polls in the state, according to a report of Odisha Election Watch.
The civil society group published the report after analysing the affidavits tagged to the nomination papers filed by 747 candidates in the fray for 77 assembly seats. However, it did not take into account the fact sheet provided by three candidates due to ‘incomplete’ information in their affidavits.
Of the 141 crorepatis, 43 are from the BJD, 34 from the Congress (INC) and 17 belonged to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Among the candidates for April 17th second phase polls in the state, Sanatan Mahakud, an independent contestant from Champua assembly constituency, falling in the iron ore belt of Keonjhar district, is the richest candidate with assets worth Rs 69.63 crore. He had contested from the same seat in the 2009 election on a Congress ticket and lost by a thin margin.
Mahakud is followed by Sunjoy Hans of Ama Odisha Party, who is in the race for Ekamra-Bhubaneswar (assembly segment) as well as Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha seat, with assets worth Rs 65.91 crore. The Congress candidate from Nayagarh (assembly), Lala Manoj Kumar Ray comes third with assets worth Rs 21.54 crore.
However, among all candidates fighting for 147 assembly constituencies (taking together both phases of poll in Odisha), hotelier and BJP candidate for Rourkela assembly seat, Dillip Ray has been named as the richest MLA candidates with an assets of Rs 106.80 crore.
A comparison of asset sizes of candidates seeking re-elections in their constituencies showed that assets of Talcher MLA and BJD aspirant Braja Kishor Pradhan has grown exponentially in last five years. In 2009, his affidavit pegged his property value at Rs 2. lakh, which has gone up to Rs 1.5 crore in 2014.
With 27 times rise in asset size, Chandra Sarathi Behera of BJD comes second (Rs 3 lakh to Rs 83 lakh) and Prasad Harichandan of Congress, third (from Rs 4 lakh to Rs 85 lakh) over the same period of time.
On the contrary, asset size of Cuttack-Choudwar BJD candidate, Prabhat Biswal has declined by 38 per cent to Rs 98 lakh.
Out of the 186 candidates who have declared criminal cases against them, 144 have admitted that they are facing serious criminal charges such as murder, rape, kidnapping and crimes against women.
Rabindranath Jarika of Aama Odisha Party from Sukinda assembly seat tops the list with highest number of 38 criminal cases against him. Judhistir Samantaray (Pipli) of the Congress and Braja Kishore Pradhan (Talcher) share the second position with 27 criminal cases each pending against them while Sanatan Mahakud , independent candidate from Champua follows them with 10 cases.
A total of 21 candidates face murder and attempt to murder related cases. Similarly, 20 candidates have declared cases of crime against women while 14 have declared cases related to assault against woman with intent to outrage her modesty under Section-354 of Indian Penal Code.Satyabrata Panda of BJP from Ghasipura faces charges of rape against him along with charges related to kidnapping, abducting or inducing woman for marriage.
Party wise, 39 out of 77 candidates fielded by the Congress have criminal cases against them, while 25 from BJD, 34 from BJP and 9 out of 63 candidates of Aam Aadmi Party have admitted to having criminal cases against them in the affidavits.
In the second phase of polls in the state, only 63 female candidates (8%) are contesting.
The civil society group published the report after analysing the affidavits tagged to the nomination papers filed by 747 candidates in the fray for 77 assembly seats. However, it did not take into account the fact sheet provided by three candidates due to ‘incomplete’ information in their affidavits.
Of the 141 crorepatis, 43 are from the BJD, 34 from the Congress (INC) and 17 belonged to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Among the candidates for April 17th second phase polls in the state, Sanatan Mahakud, an independent contestant from Champua assembly constituency, falling in the iron ore belt of Keonjhar district, is the richest candidate with assets worth Rs 69.63 crore. He had contested from the same seat in the 2009 election on a Congress ticket and lost by a thin margin.
Mahakud is followed by Sunjoy Hans of Ama Odisha Party, who is in the race for Ekamra-Bhubaneswar (assembly segment) as well as Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha seat, with assets worth Rs 65.91 crore. The Congress candidate from Nayagarh (assembly), Lala Manoj Kumar Ray comes third with assets worth Rs 21.54 crore.
However, among all candidates fighting for 147 assembly constituencies (taking together both phases of poll in Odisha), hotelier and BJP candidate for Rourkela assembly seat, Dillip Ray has been named as the richest MLA candidates with an assets of Rs 106.80 crore.
A comparison of asset sizes of candidates seeking re-elections in their constituencies showed that assets of Talcher MLA and BJD aspirant Braja Kishor Pradhan has grown exponentially in last five years. In 2009, his affidavit pegged his property value at Rs 2. lakh, which has gone up to Rs 1.5 crore in 2014.
With 27 times rise in asset size, Chandra Sarathi Behera of BJD comes second (Rs 3 lakh to Rs 83 lakh) and Prasad Harichandan of Congress, third (from Rs 4 lakh to Rs 85 lakh) over the same period of time.
On the contrary, asset size of Cuttack-Choudwar BJD candidate, Prabhat Biswal has declined by 38 per cent to Rs 98 lakh.
Out of the 186 candidates who have declared criminal cases against them, 144 have admitted that they are facing serious criminal charges such as murder, rape, kidnapping and crimes against women.
Rabindranath Jarika of Aama Odisha Party from Sukinda assembly seat tops the list with highest number of 38 criminal cases against him. Judhistir Samantaray (Pipli) of the Congress and Braja Kishore Pradhan (Talcher) share the second position with 27 criminal cases each pending against them while Sanatan Mahakud , independent candidate from Champua follows them with 10 cases.
A total of 21 candidates face murder and attempt to murder related cases. Similarly, 20 candidates have declared cases of crime against women while 14 have declared cases related to assault against woman with intent to outrage her modesty under Section-354 of Indian Penal Code.Satyabrata Panda of BJP from Ghasipura faces charges of rape against him along with charges related to kidnapping, abducting or inducing woman for marriage.
Party wise, 39 out of 77 candidates fielded by the Congress have criminal cases against them, while 25 from BJD, 34 from BJP and 9 out of 63 candidates of Aam Aadmi Party have admitted to having criminal cases against them in the affidavits.
In the second phase of polls in the state, only 63 female candidates (8%) are contesting.
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First Published: Apr 13 2014 | 8:30 PM IST