Pinaki Mishra, Bobby Mohanty Richest Candidates In Third Phase Of Odisha Elections

Bhubaneswar: Three-time BJD MP from Puri Pinaki Mishra is the richest among the 415 candidates in the fray for the third-phase Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in the state.

According to Odisha Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) report, 16 of 60 candidates contesting the six Lok Sabha seats in Odisha are crorepatis. The average assets of candidates stands at Rs 3.87 crore with 27% of them being millionaires.

Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Puri, Sambalpur, Keonjhar, Dhenkanal are the six Lok Sabha constituency going to polls in the third phase on April 23.

Supreme Court lawyer and three-time Parliamentarian, Mishra is worth Rs 117 crore while BJP’s Sambalpur Lok Sabha nominee Nitesh Ganga Deb is a distant second with Rs 26-crore asset, the report said.

Former Union minister and Congress’ nominee from Dhenkanal Lok Sabha seat KP Singhdeo occupies the third spot with assets worth over Rs 15 crore.

In the six Lok Sabha seats going to polls, the BJD has fielded the maximum millionaire candidates with five of its six nominees being crorepatis followed by the Congress, whose three of five candidates fall in this category. Similarly, three of the six BJP candidates are crorepatis.

Among the MLA candidates, Congress’ Baramba nominee Bobby Mohanty is the richest with assets worth Rs 106.32 crore. Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Niranjan Patnaik, who is contesting from Ghasipura, has assets of over Rs 60 crore.

Independent candidate of Champua Shrimanta Tripathy is the third wealthiest candidate. His assets total Rs 46 crore, the report further said.

In sharp contrast, Ranjan Kumar Mishra, contesting from Puri LS seat on CPI (ML) Red Star ticket, is the poorest of among the candidates with Rs 1,000 declared assets. He also does not own any immovable asset, it added.