KOREI (JAJPUR): Gopal Krushna Mohanty (50) of Ambedkar Party of India who is in the fray from Korei assembly constituency under Jajpur parliamentary seat where will be held in the final phase of polls on June 1, is perhaps the poorest candidate in the country with zero assets as per his election affidavit.
He is pitted against against three crorepati candidates from BJD, BJP and Congress.The total assets of BJD candidate Sandhyarani Das (69) are worth Rs 3.2 crore. Sandhyarani is the mother of BJD’s organizational secretary Pranab Prakash Das. Similarly, the assets of Congress candidate Bandita Parida (55) are worth Rs 13 crore. The total assets of the BJP candidate Akash Dasnayak (42), former MLA and Ollywood actor, are worth Rs 1.9 crore.
Korei and its nearby areas in Jajpur district are known as the hub of major steel manufacturing units, including Jindal Steel and Tata Steel for which there is no dearth of crorepatis contesting the elections. The exception is Gopal Krushna has no immovable or movable assets. “I am campaigning vigorously in the morning and evening, due to hot weather conditions with some supporters of our party. Other crorepati candidates are campaigning with their supporters in luxury AC vehicles and spending huge amounts of money. Our party believes in ‘social transformation and economic emancipation’ of SCs, STs, and OBCs for which large number of poor and dalits are supporting me,” said Gopal.