Dilip Ray richest Assembly candidate in Phase-II, Naveen 3rd after Kalikesh

Bhubaneswar: BJP leader and former Union Minister Dilip Ray is the richest of the 265 Assembly candidates for the second phase of elections in Odisha, while BJD president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik occupies the third place after his party nominee Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo who is placed second.

Altogether 95 of the 265 candidates contesting Assembly elections in 35 seats in the second phase are crorepatis, as per a report prepared by Odisha Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) after analysis of the self-sworn affidavits of all the contestants. This means 36 per cent of the MLA candidates are crorepatis.

It says the average of assets per candidate contesting in the Assembly polls in second round is Rs 3.98 crore. Dilip, who is contesting as BJP candidate from Rourkela, tops the list with total assets of Rs.313 crore, while BJD nominee from Balangir Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo is placed in second position with a total asset of Rs.73 crore.

Similarly, BJD chief Naveen Patnaik, who is contesting from Kantabanji as well as Hinjili constituencies, is in the third position with total declared assets of Rs.71 crore.

Candidate with Zero Asset

An independent candidate, Sohan Sipka contesting from Kantabanji Assembly constituency in Balangir has declared zero assets. As per the report, Sipka is considered the poorest of all Assembly candidates.

10 Richest Candidates:

• Dilip Ray, BJP: Rs 313 crore
• Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo, BJD: Rs 73 crore
• Naveen Patnaik, BJD, Kantabanji & Hinjili: Rs 71 crore
• Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo, BJP: Rs 67 crore
• Saroj Kumar Meher, BJD: Rs 62 crore
• Dipali Das, BJD: Rs 37 crore
• Bhimsen Choudhry, BJD: Rs 17 crore
• Anil Meher, INC: Rs 14 crore
• Nakul Nayak, INC: Rs 14 crore

Low Assets Candidates:

• Pradipa Sahu, Boudh (Independent: Rs 7,000
• Abhiram Dharua, Kantabanji (All India Forward Bloc): Rs 8592
• Satyananda Bohidar, Titilagarh (IND): Rs 11,000
• Balram Nayak, Hinjili (BSP): Rs 11,000