Bhubaneswar: Entrepreneur-turned politician Santrupt Misra is the richest among 64 candidates, who are in fray for the upcoming Odisha Phase-III in Lok Sabha phase VI elections 2024.

Santrupt Misra is contesting the polls on the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) ticket from Cuttack Lok Sabha seat in Odisha.

According to a report by the Odisha Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), Misra is the richest candidate with over Rs 482 Crore movable and immovable assets followed by BJD’s MP candidate from Dhenkanal Abinash Samal with over Rs 36 Crore and BSP candidate Ram Prasad Hembram from Keonjhar Lok Sabha with over Rs 35 Crore assets.

While the former Aditya Birla Group’s business executive owns total Rs 4,82,21,02,948 assets (Rs 4,20,46,42,948 movable assets, Rs 61,74,60,000 immovable assets), Abinash Samal owns total Rs 36,78,50,379 assets (Rs 17,50,52,609 movable assets and Rs 19,27,97,770 immovable assets). BSP’s Lok Sabha candidate Ram Prasad Hembram from Keonjhar has total Rs 35,81,56,924 assets (Rs 1,56,924 movable assets and Rs 35.80 Crore immovable assets).

Independent candidate Dillip Kumar Baral, who is contesting from Puri Lok Sabha seat, is the poorest among all candidates projected for 6 Lok Sabha seats in 3rd phase of Odisha Elections with only Rs 4,032 assets, as per the ADR report.

Notably, the Odisha Phase-III in Lok Sabha phase VI elections 2024 is scheduled on May 25. Total 64 candidates are contesting in 6 Lok Sabha constituencies — Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Keonjhar, Puri and Sambalpur. While 12 candidates are fighting the polls from Bhubaneswar LS, 10 are from Cuttack, 10 from Dhenkanal, 11 from Keonjhar, 7 from Puri and 14 from Sambalpur.

As per the ADR reports, out of 64 candidates, 28 (44%) candidates have assets worth more than Rs. 1 crore. While 6 BJD’s Lok Sabha candidates are crorepatis, BJP and Congress have 8 crorepati candidates, 4 from each.

The BJD’s six crorepati candidates included Santrupt Misra (Cuttack), Abinash Samal (Dhenkanal), Arup Mohan Patnaik (Puri), Manmath Kumar Routray (Bhubaneswar), Dhanurjaya Sidu (Keonjhar), Pranab Prakash Das (Sambalpur).

According to assets details of candidates analysed by the ADR, Arup Patnaik has total Rs 22,97,51,288 assets, Manmath Routray has Rs 15,57,37,279 total assets, Dhanurjaya Sidu has total Rs 14,30,28,508 assets and Pranab Prakash Das aka Bobby Das has total Rs 2,30,69,926 assets.

Similarly, BJP candidate Bhartruhari Mahtab, who is contesting from Cuttack Lok Sabha seat against BJD’s Santrupt Misra, owns total assets of Rs 19,90,52,799. Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who is the BJP candidate from Sambalpur against BJD’s Bobby Das, has total Rs 6,92,19,190 assets. BJP’s MP candidate Aparajita Sarangi from Bhubaneswar against BJD’s Manmath Routray has total Rs 4,62,54,213 assets. BJP candidate Sambit Patra, who is contesting from Puri against BJD’s Arup Patnaik, owns total Rs 1,60,11,289 assets.

Total 21 Independent candidates are in fray for the 3rd phase of Lok Sabha elections in Odisha, of which 7 candidates registered high assets more than Rs 1 crore. They included, Sriram Pandey (Sambalpur) with over Rs 18 crore, Sobha Pandey (Cuttack and Puri) with over Rs 18 crore, Atmaram Supkar (Sambalpur) with over Rs 9 crore, Kailas Chandra Pradhan (Dhenkanal) with over Rs 7 crore, Sudhansu Sekhar Das (Bhubaneswar) with over Rs 4 crore, Shushil Kumar Babu (Sambalpur) with over Rs 1 crore, Priyabrata Garnaik (Dhenkanal) with over Rs 1 crore.

Here’s the list of candidates with their asset details: