Orissa’s heart of darkness chooses from crorepatis

Indian Express, April 7, 2009

Bhubaneshwar: The Kalahandi-Bolangir-Koraput (KBK) region is Orissa’s heart of darkness, infamous for its acute poverty which in the past led to starvation deaths and still forces people to migrate in search of work to the brick kilns of Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Home to 19.8% of the state’s 3.6 crore population, 78% of rural KBK live below the poverty line. But to elect representatives for the next Lok Sabha and state Assembly, this region has to choose from at least four crorepatis — three from the BJP, one from BJD — and a Congress candidate who is just Rs 10 lakh short of a crore.

Take 35-year-old Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo, son of senior BJD minister AU Singh Deo and educated at the Doon School. Elected to the Orissa Assembly on a BJD ticket from Saintala in the 2004 elections, he is now the party candidate for the Bolangir Lok Sabha seat. He has movable and immovable assets worth Rs 2.63 crore which includes his share in Shailashree Palace in Bolangir.

According to the affidavit he filed before the Bolangir returning officer, Kalikesh Narayan has apartments in New Delhi’s Vasant Vihar, a prime plot in Bhuba-neswar next to Governor House, land in DLF Phase-III in Gurgaon and Bolangir, shares, postal savings and debentures worth Rs 1.2 crore. He also owns a Pajero, a Scorpio and a sports motorbike.

Ads By GoogleHis BJP opponent is sitting MP Sangeeta Singh Deo who, according to her affidavit, has assets worth Rs 2.85 crore — a flat in Sushant Lok in Gurgaon worth Rs 30 lakh, joint owner of a flat in New Delhi’s Tolstoy Marg, bank deposits worth Rs 13.91 lakh, Rs 17.87 lakh in bonds and debentures, jewellery worth Rs 15 lakh.

The Congress candidate in Bolangir is Narasingha Mishra, deputy leader of Opposition in the Assembly, who narrowly missed the crorepati tag. He has declared assets worth Rs 90 lakh.

Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo, husband of Sangeeta Singh Deo and BJP candidate for the Patnagarh Assembly seat, has declared assets worth Rs 1.5 crore which includes bank deposits worth Rs 54.89 lakh, jewellery worth Rs 25.7 lakh and land worth Rs 30 lakh.

In neighbouring Kalahandi, Bikram Keshari Deo, contesting for the Lok Sabha on a BJP ticket, has declared assets of Rs 3.7 crore. A St Stephen’s graduate, the son of the former Maharaja of Kalahandi, has a house worth Rs 3 crore in New Delhi’s South Extension-II.