Bhubaneswar, Jun 7 (Reporter) The number of crorepatis has increased in the last four Assembly elections in Odisha from 22 percent in the 2009 election to as high as 73 percent in the 2024 election, according to a report released by Odisha Election Watch in association with the Association for Democratic Reforms. In the 2009 Assembly election, only 22 percent (33 candidates) of the total 147 MLAs were crorepatis, which increased to 52 percent (76 candidates) in the 2014 election and 65 percent (95 candidates) in the 2019 Assembly election. However, in the 2024 election, the results of which were announced on June 4, about 107 of the total 147 winning candidates were crorepatis. Party-wise, 52 of the 78 winning BJP candidates (67 percent) were crorepatis, while 43 of the 51 winning BJD candidates (84 percent) were crorepatis, and nine of the 14 winning Congress candidates (64 percent) were crorepatis. Similarly, out of 147 winning candidates in the Assembly, 17 candidates had assets over Rs.10 crore, and an equal number of winning candidates had assets between Rs.5 crore and Rs.10 crore. Additionally, 73 MLAs had assets of Rs.1 crore to Rs.5 crore. The report indicated that there has been a sharp rise in the average assets of the 147 MLAs in the Odisha Assembly from Rs.1.71 crore in 2009 to Rs.3.22 crore in 2014, Rs.4.41 crore in 2019, and Rs.7.37 crore in the 2024 election. The average assets of the BJP winning candidates in the 2024 election were Rs.3.92 crore, followed by Rs.14.36 crore for the BJD winning candidates, and Rs.1.82 crore for the winning Congress candidates. The top three winning candidates in the 2024 election were from the BJD. They are Sanatan Mahakud from Champua with total assets of Rs.227 crore, Subhasini Jena from Basta with assets of Rs.135 crore, and Kailesh Narayan Singdeo from Bolangir with assets of Rs.73 crore. About 43 sitting MLAs were re-elected during the 2024 election to the state Assembly. They included 26 from the BJD, 12 from the BJP, four from the Congress and one from CPI(M). In the 2024 election, the BJP won 78 seats, the BJD won 51 seats, and the Congress managed to get 14 seats. The average growth of the re-elected MLAs from the 2019 Assembly election to the 2024 election was almost 100 percent, the report said. Among the top ten richest winning candidates, the BJD has seven, followed by three in the BJP. Similarly, among the top ten candidates with the lowest assets who won the elections, the BJP has the maximum number of six candidates, followed by two each in the BJD and Congress. The top three crorepatis who were defeated in the 2024 Assembly election in Odisha were Dillip Ray from BJP with a total assets of Rs.313.52 crore. He was defeated at the hands of BJD candidate Sarada Prasad Nayak in Rourkela Assembly seat. The other two are Independent candidate S R Pattnaik from Ghasipura who had declared his total assets at Rs.122 crore and BJP candidate Rajeswari Singh from Nayagarh with a total assets of Rs.120 crore. Both Patnaik and Rajeswari were defeated by the sitting BJD MLAs Badri Narayan Patra and Arun Kumar Sahu respectively...////...