Money fails to fetch power in elections

BHUBANESWAR: Poor performance by some of the richest politicians in Odisha has sprung a surprise in this elections. It has once gain proved that money alone cannot fetch you power.At least 100 millionaires possessing assets worth over `1 crore faced defeat in the elections held to 21 Lok Sabha and 146 Assembly seats in the State.

Some prominent leaders with assets in crores failed to win the voters’ confidence in the Lok Sabha elections. Congress candidate from Balasore constituency Navajyoti Patnaik with assets worth over `104 crore, BJD MP candidate from Balasore, Rabindra Jena with assets worth `72.61 crore and BJP MP nominee from Kendrapara, Baijayant Panda with assets over `57.44 crore had to bite the dust.

Apart from the three, several others including Congress candidate from Berhampur V Chandrasekhar Naidu with assets over `36 crore, BJD candidate from Balangir Kalikesh Singhdeo
worth `20 crore, BJP MP candidate from Nabarangpur Balabhadra Majhi having assets worth `9 crore, Congress candidate from Dhenkanal Kamakhya Prasad Singhdeo having assets over `15 crore, BJP candidate from Cuttack Prakash Mishra having assets worth over `9.3 crore and BJD candidate from Sambalpur Nalinikant Pradhan having assets worth `7.56 crore also disappointed their party.
Similar is the case with some of the crorepati politicians who were in fray from different Assembly segments.

Crores of assets and years of experience failed to win public trust. Prominent among them is OPCC chief Niranjan Patnaik. Niranjan, who contested and lost from Bhandaripokhari and Ghasipura Assembly segments, has assets worth over `60 crore.

Congress nominee from Baramba Assembly segment Bobby Mohanty, a billionaire and richest among all Assembly candidates with assets worth over `106.32 crore, lost the election. He secured only 6,224 votes.
Congress nominee from Jagatsinghpur Chiranjib Biswal with assets over `33.89 crore, BJD candidate from Dharmasala Pranab Balabantantray with assets over `17.24 crore, KV Singhdeo having assets over `37.95 crore and Independent candidate Jayalal Behera with assets over `27 crore also lost the Assembly elections.