Ranchi: The first phase of Assembly election in Jharkhand, scheduled to take place on November 30, is witnessing many `crorepati` candidates from the ruling BJP. In the 13 Assembly constituencies, BJP and Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik (JVM-P) have fielded their candidates on all the 13 seats, while Congress, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and RJD have fielded candidates on six, four and three seats, respectively.
According to the details of affidavit submitted by these candidates, of the 26 candidates of BJP and Grand Alliance in the first phase, 21 are crorepatis. Of these, candidates belonging to ruling as well as the opposition in eight seats are crorepatis.
Among such crorepatis candidates are BJP's Satyendranath Tiwari facing challenge from JMM's Mithilesh Thakur in Garhwa; Prakash Ram of BJP and Baidyanath Ram of JMM are fighting against each other in Latehar; while Sukhdev Bhagat of BJP is challenging Rameshwar Oraon of Congress party in the first phase.
Congress' KN Tripathy, fighting from Daltanganj seat, is the richest candidate with his declared of Rs 53 crore. The poorest candidate belongs to JVM-P. Rajpal Singh, fighting from Manika seat, has assets of worth just Rs 8.71 lakh, said an IANS report.
In the first phase, 10 of the 13 BJP candidates are `crorepatis`, and of the JVM-P and Congress, seven and five candidates are `crorepatis`, respectively. Interestingly, total declared assets of the grand alliance candidates in 13 seats are Rs 85.20 crore, while the total movable and immovable assets of BJP candidates are Rs 49.31 crore on these seats. The average assets of the 13 candidates of the Grand Alliance is Rs 6.5 crore, while the average assets of BJP candidates stand at Rs 3.79 crore.
Rameshwar Oraon richest in first phase
Among 26 candidates of BJP and Grand Alliance, Congress' Rameshwar Oraon, who heads the party in Jharkhand, is contesting from Lohardaga, has emerged as the richest candidate with assets worth 28 crores in the first phase. Rameshwar Oraon is a retired Indian Police Service officer.
Rameshwar Oraon is followed by BJP candidate Shashibhushan Mehta from Panki. Mehta has declared his movable and immovable property worth Rs 26.53 crore, while Panki's Congress candidate Devendra Singh stands at number three with his declared assets of Rs 13.90 crore.
RJD's Sanjay Singh Yadav from Hussainabad is the fourth crorepati candidate with declared assets of Rs 13.38 crore, while Congress' KN Tripathi from Daltonganj with assets worth Rs 12.28 crore stands at the fifth spot in the first phase of Jharkhand assembly election.
