The data compiled by ADR and NEW has been extracted from affidavits filed by the Chief Ministers prior to contesting their last elections

In one of the most comprehensive breakups of the social profiles of the chief ministers from the 30 states of India, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) & National Election Watch (NEW) jointly released a report about the Chief Minister (CM) of Indian states revealing among other details, the total assets owned and the criminal cases against them. The data has been extracted from affidavits filed by the Chief Ministers before contesting their last elections. 

Based on the study, of all 30 Chief Ministers analysed from State Assemblies and Union Territories 13 (43%) Chief Ministers have declared criminal cases against themselves. A total of 29 CMs (97%) are Crorepati and the average assets of the CMs in the country stand at ₹33.96 crore. According to the report, 17 CMs (57%) have a clean background. 

Poorest CMs

On the other hand, Mamata Banerjee’s net assets stand at just Rs 15 lakhs. She has zero immovable assets and is the only CM in India with assets under Rs 1 crore. With only Rs 1 crore assets, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan claimed the second spot in the ‘poorest CM’ list.

Reddy is followed by Arunachal Pradesh CM Pemu Khandu with assets worth Rs 163 crores, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik who owns movable and immovable assets worth Rs 63.87 crores, Nagaland CM Neiphiu Rio with Rs 46 crores assets, and Puducherry CM N Rangasamy with Rs 38 crores assets.

As per the report, 29 CMs in India are ‘crorepatis’ with average assets pegged at Rs 33.96 crores.

CMs with serious criminal cases

As per the findings in the report, 43 percent of CMs have serious criminal cases filed against them, which include cases of murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping, criminal intimidation, etc. Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao tops the list with 64 cases out of which 37 are with serious Indian Penal Code (IPC) counts. Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin has 47 cases and 10 are serious. 

Andhra Pradesh (AP) CM Jaganmohan Reddy has 35 cases of serious offences out of 38 cases filed against him. 

Crorepati CMs

The AP CM Reddy is also the richest Chief Minister of India with a total wealth of ₹510+ Crore. The CM of Arunachal Pradesh and the MLA from Tawang Pema Khandu stands second in the list of Crorepati Chief Ministers with a wealth of over ₹163+ Crore. Odisha’s Naveen Patnaik is third on the list with assets both movable and immovable amounting to ₹63+ Crore. 

In the list of the Chief Ministers with the lowest assets, West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee has taken a numero uno position with ₹15 Lakhs+ worth of both movable and immovable assets. Pinarayi Vijayan, the CM from Kerala has an asset size of ₹1 Crore+, and Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar also holds the same asset size value (₹1 Crore+).

Education Report

On the education front, 37% (11) of the CMs are graduates, 30% (9) are postgraduates, 1 each with a doctorate degree, diploma, and 10th pass degree. 3 CMs are 12 pass and 4 are graduate professionals.