Priyanshu Pradhan, who was elected as Chhatrapur MlA on a BJD ticket, is the poorest among the 147 legislators elected in the latest Assembly elections, said an analysis of the Odisha Election Watch (OEW) here on Monday.
According to the affidavit submitted by Pradhan before the Returning Officer during filing of his nomination papers, he has assets worth Rs 2, 76,380 (movable Rs 1, 66,380 and immovable Rs 1, 10,000).
Besides Pradhan, there are eight other newly elected MlAs (six BJD, two BJP) who have declared their assets to be less than Rs 10 lakh. They are BJD MlA from Mohana Basanti Mallick, Rengali MlA Ramesh Patua (BJD), Kuchinda MlA Rabi Narayan Naik (BJP), Rairangpur MlA Saiba Sushil Kumar Hansdah (BJD), Badasahi MlA Ganeswar Patra (BJD), Padampur MlA Pradip Purohit (BJP), Telkoi MlA Bedabyasa Nayak (BJD) and Bhubaneswar Central (Madhya) MlA Bijaya Kumar Mohanty (BJD).
On the other hand, out of the 147 winners analysed, 76 (52 per cent) were crorepatis who have amassed wealth far more than what they possessed during the 2009 Assembly elections. During 2009, the number of crorepatis was limited to 33 (22 per cent) MlAs. Presently, out of the total 76 crorepatis, the BJD has 62, the Congress has nine and the BJP has four MlAs. BJP’s Dilip Kumar Ray from Rourkela topped the list of crorepati MlAs with over Rs 106 crore, while Independent MlA from Champua Sanatan Mahakud possesses Rs 69 crore and BJP’s Deogarh MlA Nitesh Gangadeb has assets worth Rs 17 crore. While Ray remains the richest of all MlAs, the second and third slots are occupied by Mahakhud and Gangadeb respectively.
The OEW stated that on an average, assets of the MlAs increased from Rs 1.71 crore in 2009 to Rs 3.22 crore in 2014.
As many as 29 (20 per cent) out of 147 winners have not declared annual income in their income tax return (ITR). Three crorepati MlAs have not declared their ITR. Similarly, eight winners have not declared their PAN details, the OEW analysis said.
