412 'millionaire' candidates are in the fray in Odisha assembly elections to be held from May 13 to June 1. Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Odisha Election Watch have analyzed the election affidavits of 1,283 out of 1,285 candidates who are contesting for 147 assembly seats in Odisha. Assembly elections in Odisha are being held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha elections. ADR said in its report that out of 1,283 candidates analyzed, 412 (32 per cent) are crorepatis while 304 (27 per cent) out of 1,121 candidates in the 2019 assembly elections were crorepatis.

128 candidates of BJD, 96 of BJP and 88 of Congress
It said that 128 candidates of ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD), 96 candidates of BJP, 88 candidates of Congress and 11 candidates of Aam Aadmi Party have collected more than one crore rupees. Property declared. The average wealth of candidates contesting the current assembly elections is Rs 2.89 crore, while the average wealth of candidates who contested in 2019 was Rs 1.69 crore. According to reports, former Coal Minister Dilip Ray is the richest candidate in the Odisha assembly elections.

BJP candidate Dileep 
has declared total wealth of Rs 313.53 crore from Rourkela assembly seat. After this, BJD candidate from Champua constituency Sanatan Mahakud is in second place with assets worth Rs 227.67 crore. BJD candidate from Basta Assembly Constituency is in third place, Subasini Jena, who has declared movable and immovable assets worth Rs 135.17 crore. According to reports, five candidates contesting for assembly elections in Odisha have declared zero assets in their affidavits. Accordingly, out of 1283 candidates, 348 (27 percent) candidates have declared criminal cases against them.

Out of 1,121 candidates in the 2019 Odisha assembly elections, 332 (30 percent) had declared criminal cases against them. There are 292 candidates in this assembly election against whom serious criminal cases are pending. Similarly, 566 candidates have declared their educational qualification between 5th to 12th, while 652 candidates have educational qualification of graduation or above.