Bhubaneswar: BJP leader Baijayant Panda is the richest of the 66 candidates who are in fray in the fourth and last phase of Lok Sabha polls in Odisha. At least 20 of the Lok Sabha candidates (30 per cent) have declared assets worth more than Rs.1 crore, according to a report of Odisha Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
Panda, who is the BJP nominee from Kendrapada Lok Sabha seat, is richest with assets worth Rs.148.08 crore. In the affidavit submitted while filing his nomination, Panda has declared movable assets worth Rs.121,60,13,384 and movable property valued at Rs.26,48,65,324.
Similarly, independent candidate in Kendrapada Lok Sabha seat Sriram Pandey is second richest with Rs.18.23 crore assets followed by sitting BJD MP Manjulata Mandal from Bhadrak with declared assets worth Rs.14.86 crore.
With just Rs.1500, Bhanumati Das of Utkal Samaj Party who is contesting from Jagatsinghpur constituency, is the poorest candidate in this phase of polling. Other candidates with low declared assets are independent candidate in Balasore Deepak Sankar Thakur Giri with Rs.6000 and BSP’s Bibhuti Bhusan Majhi having Rs.6061 from Jagatsinghpur.
BJP candidates have an average asset value of Rs.27.12 crore, followed by BJD nominees with Rs.6.61 crore, and Congress aspirants with Rs.2.37 crore.
The last phase of polls will be held in six Lok Sabha constituencies of Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapada, and Jagatsinghpur on June 1.