Bhubaneswar, June 8: According to a report released by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and the Odisha Election Watch, the upcoming Assembly in Odisha will witness an unprecedented number of crorepati MLAs. The analysis of self-sworn affidavits of all 147 winning candidates in the 2024 Assembly Elections revealed that 107 of them, constituting 73% of the total, have declared assets worth more than Rs 1 crore.
This figure surpasses the previous records, with 95 crorepati MLAs out of 146 analyzed in the 2019 Assembly elections, 76 out of 147 MLAs in 2014, and only 33 out of 147 in the 2009 elections.
Breaking down the data by party affiliation, the BJP leads with 52 out of its total 78 candidates being crorepati, followed by the BJD with 43 out of 51 candidates. The Congress follows with 9 out of 14, while CPI(M) and Independent candidates have also declared significant assets.
Further analysis reveals that 17 candidates possess properties worth more than Rs 10 crore, another 17 have assets ranging from Rs 5 crore to Rs 10 crore, 73 candidates have assets between Rs 1 crore to Rs 5 crore, and 35 candidates possess properties worth Rs 20 lakh to Rs 1 crore.
The average assets per winning candidate in the 2024 elections stand at Rs 7.37 crore, marking a significant increase from Rs 4.41 crore in 2019, Rs 3.22 crore in 2014, and Rs 1.71 crore in 2009.
The average assets of winning candidates across parties vary, with BJP candidates averaging Rs 3.92 crore, BJD candidates averaging Rs 14.36 crore, Congress candidates averaging Rs 1.82 crore, CPI(M) candidate at Rs 1.11 crore, and Independents at Rs 6.22 crore.
(With inputs from agencies)