JAJPUR: Even as a few candidates for the panchayat elections in some districts are resorting to crowdsourcing to fund their campaigning expenses, in Jajpur, as many as 10 contestants for the zilla parishad member post possess wealth in crores.
Seven such candidates (seven) are supported by the ruling BJD while three have the support of BJP. Pranati Lenka, contesting from zone no 13 with BJD’s support is the richest and her assets are pegged at Rs 5 crore. Lenka was a zilla parishad member from zone no 13 and is trying hard to retain the seat.
Suchitra Biswal, also supported by the BJD, is contesting from zone no 10. She has assets worth Rs 4 crore. Suchitra is followed by Jaladhara Mohanty who with the ruling party’s support is contesting from zone no 14. His total assets are pegged at Rs 3 crore.
This apart, five candidates have assets worth more than Rs 50 lakh, as per affidavits filed by the contestants. On the other hand, 16 contestants have mentioned in their affidavits they have only a few thousand in cash with them.
Parbati Hembram, who is contesting from zone no 8 with support from Jharkhand Mukti Morcha has mentioned in her affidavit that she has Rs 1,000 in cash with her. Similarly, Sumita Purty contesting from zone no 37 with the support of BJP and Lizarani Panda contesting from zone no 30 with the support of Congress have declared they have Rs 5,000 in cash each with them.
As many as 150 contestants are in the fray for 39 zilla parishad zones in Jajpur district. Of them, 125 have passed matriculation or above and the rest under-matriculate.