Bhubaneswar: As many as 70 out of 243 candidates contesting for the 28 Assembly seats in the first phase of election in the state are crorepatis, according to a report of Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
The top three candidates having high assets are Biplab Patro(BJD) contesting from Digpahandi is over Rs 33 crore followed by another BJD candidate Bikram Kumar Panda contesting from Gopalpur Assembly seat with assets of Rs 15.94 crore. BJP candidate Sudhir Ranjan Patjoshi contesting from Dharamgarh Assembly seat has total declared assets of Rs 12.01 crore.
Among the major parties 25 BJD candidates (out of 28) are crorepatis followed by 14 each from BJP & Congress and 2 from AAP out of eleven candidates have declared assets worth more than 1 crore.
The average asset per BJD candidate is Rs.4.49 crore while in case of Congress it is Rs 1.87 crore and for the BJP it is Rs 1.74 crore. The assets of average 11 AAP candidates is Rs 56.68 lakh.
Two candidates have declared zero assets. They are Ramesh Kumar Mahanada, an independent candidate contesting from Bhawanipatna and BSP candidate Purna Chandra Majhi contesting from Rayagada segment.
As many as 113 candidates, about 47 percent, have criminal records against themselves. While 65 candidates, about 27 percent have declared criminal cases against them,48 candidates constituting 20 percent of the total contesting candidate have declared serious criminal cases against themselves.
Among the major parties, 18 of the total 28 BJP candidates (64%), 17 congress candidates (61%), 9 (32 %) BJD candidates and 3(27 %) out of 11 AAP candidates have declared criminal cases against them in the affidavit.
Similarly, party wise candidates with serious criminal cases,15 BJP candidates, 10 Congress candidates, 4 BJD candidates and 3 AAP candidates(out of 11) have declared serious criminal cases against them in the affidavit.
The ADR report said out of 28 Assembly seats going to polls in the first phase, 12 Assembly constituencies are declared as Red Alert constituencies where more than three candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves.
Informing about the educational background details of the candidates contesting the 28 Assembly seats,132 of 243 candidates have declared their education qualification between 5th standard to 12th standard while 100 candidates have declared their educational qualification graduate and above.
Moreover, seven candidates have declared as Diploma holders while four candidates are illiterates.
As far as the age of the candidates is concerned, 73 candidates declared their age between 25 years to 40 years, while 144 candidates have declared their age between 41 years to 60 years and 26 candidates who have declared their age between 61 years to 80years.
