Bhubaneswar: Out of 66 candidates, 20 in the fray in the fourth phase Lok Sabha in Odisha have assets worth more than Rs 1 crore.
According to the report of Odisha Election Watch and the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), BJP nominee from Kendrapara Lok Sabha seat Baijayant Panda is richest with assets worth Rs 148.08 crore. Independent candidate Sriram Pandey stood second with Rs 18.23 crore assets. Similarly, sitting BJP MP Manjulata Mandal from Bhadrak came third in the row having assets worth Rs 14.86 crore.
With just Rs 1500, Bhanumati Das of Utkal Samaj Party is poorest nominee from Jagatsinghpur. Other candidates with lowest declared assets are Independent candidate Deepak Sankar Thakur Giri with Rs 6,000 from Balasore, and BSP’s Bibhuti Bhusan Majhi having Rs 6,061 from Jagatsinghpur.
BJP candidates have an average asset value of Rs 27.12 crore, followed by BJD candidates with Rs 6.61 crore, and Congress aspirants with Rs 2.37 crore.
The polls will be held in six constituencies – Balasore, Bhadrak, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Kendrapara, and Mayurbhanj on June 1.
