Along with the fifth phase of Lok Sabha Election 2024 on May 20, Odisha will also be conducting the third phase of Assembly elections for 35 assembly seats alongside five Lok Sabha seats. Voting will be held in Aska, Bargarh, Bolangir, Kandhamal and Sundargarh Lok Sabha seats and 35 assembly constituencies falling under these parliamentary seats. Campaigning for this phase ended on Saturday.

A total of 79.69 lakh eligible voters, comprising 39.35 lakh women and 851 transgender individuals, are poised to exercise their voting rights across 9,162 polling stations. Among the electorate, nearly 24 per cent are below the age of 30, with a gender ratio of 975 women per 1,000 men. Of the designated polling stations, 1,541 will operate as model polling stations, while 1,041 will be exclusively managed by female personnel. A total of 25 polling stations will be administered by officials with disabilities.

Approximately 20 per cent of the polling stations, including those situated in Maoist-affected areas, have been identified as critical. This categorization underscores the need for heightened security measures and vigilance during the electoral process, State Chief Electoral Officer Nikunja Bihari Dhal said.

Odisha Assembly Elections 2024: Key Candidates in the Fray

Altogether 40 candidates are contesting from Aska, Kandhamal, Bolangir, Bargarh and Sundergarh Lok Sabha seats, while 265 are in the fray for 35 assembly constituencies.

Notable candidates include BJD president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, along with his colleagues in the state government: Bikram Arukha, Niranjan Pujari, PK Amat, Tukuni Sahu, Rita Sahu, and SP Nayak.

Other prominent figures include ex-union minister and Sundergarh’s sitting MP Jual Oram, former Indian hockey captain Dilip Tirkey, former union minister and hotelier Dilip Ray, and BJP’s four-time Lok Sabha MP Sangeeta Singh Deo.

Odisha Assembly Elections 2024: Richest and poorest candidates

The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) report says, “The role of money power in our elections is evident from the fact that all major political parties give tickets to wealthy candidates. Among the major parties, 36 out of 42 candidates analysed from BJD, 29 are from Congress, 28 from BJP and four from AAP have declared assets valued more than Rs 1 crore.”

A significant number of candidates in the third phase of the Odisha Assembly elections are ‘crorepatis’. According to ADR and Odisha Election Watch, 126 out of 383 candidates have assets exceeding Rs. 1 crore. The richest candidate is BJD’s Sanatan Mahakud from the Champua segment, with assets worth Rs. 227.67 crore. Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, an independent candidate from Ghasipura, is the second richest with family assets totalling Rs. 122.86 crore.

Despite the prevalence of wealthy candidates, a few candidates have declared minimal assets. Samruddha Odisha’s Kailash Chandra Nayak, contesting from Baramba, has assets worth Rs. 1,000. Independent candidate Sukanta Ghadai from Brahmagiri and CPI (ML) Red Star nominee Gopinath Nayak from Bhubaneswar North each have assets of Rs. 2,000.

The report that analysed 381 candidates stated about 100 of them have declared criminal cases against them, with 86 facing serious charges.

Odisha Assembly Elections 2024: Security Arrangements

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced the deployment of 102 companies of central armed police forces (CAPFs) for the second phase of elections in Odisha on May 20. The highest number, 22 companies, will be deployed in the Maoist-affected Kandhamal district, followed by Ganjam (20), Sundargarh (16), Bargarh and Bolangir (14 each), Jharsuguda and Boudh (5 each), Sonepur (4), and Nayagarh (2).