India Has 35% Chief Ministers Facing Criminal Cases, Reports ADR

A report published by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), indicated that 35% India’s chief ministers faced criminal cases.

Furthermore, the report listed Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu the richest Chief Minister in India and Tripura CM Manik Sarkar the poorest CM. According to the ADR Report, 81% of the total chief ministers in the state are crorepatis.

Criminal cases

“Out of the all 31 chief ministers analyzed from state assemblies and Union territories, 11 (35 %) chief ministers have declared criminal cases against themselves,” the report stated.

Among the 35% CMs who were listed in the report facing criminal cases, 26% CMs were facing serious criminal cases, including the attempt to murder, murder, cheating and dishonesty, and criminal intimidation. The list includes the names of Nitish Kumar (Bihar), Devendra Fadnavis (Maharashtra), Yogi Aditya Nath (Uttar Pradesh), Amarinder Singh (Punjab), Arvind Kejriwal (Delhi), Raghubar Das (Jharkhand), K. Chandrashekar Rao (Telangana), Pinarayi Vijayan (Kerala), Mehbooba Mufti (Jammu and Kashmir), Narayanasamy (Puducherry), Chandrababu Naidu (Andhra Pradesh),

“In 2002, the Supreme Court made it mandatory for candidates to submit details of their assets and criminal cases if any. Though that has been followed, the necessary amendment to the Representation of the People Act to restrain those with criminal and corruption cases from contesting in elections has not come into force. That is the need of the hour,” said M.G. Devasahayam, retired IAS officer and convener of Forum for Electoral Integrity to The Hindu.

The inequality level

The varying income level of CMs in different states in India indicated that the inequality level was evident among the top politicians too. The richest chief minister Chandrababu Naidu was 680 times wealthier than the poorest CM Manik Sarkar. Naidu had an asset worth Rs 177 crore, according to the ADR report. The second richest chief minister was Arunachal Pradesh CM Pema Khandu and the third richest chief minister was Punjab CM Amarinder Singh, with an asset of Rs 129 crore and Rs 48 crore respectively.

Manik Sarkar had total assets worth Rs 26 lakhs. The second poorest CM in the country was West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee who possessed an asset worth Rs 30 lakh.

“Leaders who own ancestral property, come from land-owning families and have earnings from lawfully running businesses are not a cause for concern. Only cases where the assets have increased sharply over a period of time should be considered seriously,” said M.G. Devasahayam, told to The Hindu.

Educational qualification

According to the ADR report, 10% chief ministers were 12th pass, 32% were graduates, 16% were postgraduates and 3% had a doctorate.