Odisha Elections 2024 Phase II: 13 Crorepati Candidates Contesting In 5 LS Seats

Bhubaneswar: As many as 13 crorepati candidates are contesting in the second phase of Lok Sabha elections in Odisha.

This was revealed from an analysis made by Odisha Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) on the self-sworn affidavits filed by the candidates in the five Lok Sabha constituencies of Aska, Bargarh, Balangir, Kandhamal and Sundargarh.

Out of the total 40 candidates in the fray for May 20 election, 13 (33%) candidates have assets worth more than Rs 1 crore, a report of the two organisations said on Saturday.

All the three major parties – BJD, BJP and Congress – have 80% crorepati candidates in the second phase Parliamentary elections. Four of five candidates fielded by these parties

The average of assets per candidate is Rs 3.05 crore. While the BJP’s candidates have average assets of Rs more than Rs 16 crore (16,27,70,585), BJD has average of more than Rs 4 crore (Rs 4,58,68,763) and the Congress Rs 2 crore (Rs 2,17,14,334).

The list of crorepati candidates is headed by BJP nominee for Balangir constituency Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo with total assets of more than Rs 67.30 crore. She is followed by BJD’s Sundargarh candidate Dilip Kumar Tirkey with over Rs 12 crore and BJP’s Jual Oram for Sundargarh with over Rs 8 crore.

Education Analysis

An analysis of educational qualifications of the candidates revealed that 19 (47.5%) candidates have declared their educational qualification to be between Class V and XII. There are 21 candidates, accounting for 52.5%, who have educational qualification of graduate or above.

While 9 candidates have Graduation certificates, three are graduate professionals, seven have post-graduate certificate and two have Doctorate, the report stated.