Two hundred and thirty members of the Upper House of Parliament have combined wealth of more than Rs 26,500 crore.

Thirty-one percent of the Rajya Sabha MPs have declared criminal cases against them, showed a study released on Monday by the Association for Democratic Reforms.

Fourteen percent members of the Upper House of Parliament have also declare assets worth more than Rs 100 crore.

Criminal cases

Of the 230 Rajya Sabha MPs the study analysed, 72 have declared in their election affidavits criminal cases against themselves.

While the 245-member House currently has 241 MPs, the analysis does not include 11 members elected in October.

Thirty-seven or 16% of the members who were analysed have declared that they are facing serious criminal cases, the election watchdog said.

The study defines serious criminal offences as those carrying a maximum punishment of five years or more, non-bailable offences, or cases involving loss to the public exchequer.

The category also includes cases pertaining to crimes such as assault, murder, kidnapping, rape, crimes against women and offences mentioned in the Representation of the People Act. It also includes offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Thirty-one of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s 111 Rajya Sabha MPs, or 28%, have declared having criminal cases, the study showed. The number is 12 of 29, or 41%, for the Congress.

Two out of the nine, or 22%, MPs of the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress faction have criminal cases. The number is 40% for the Samajwadi Party and 25% for the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the study showed.

Three of the Telugu Desam Party’s four Rajya Sabha MPs are facing criminal cases.

Seventy-one percent of the Rajya Sabha MPs from Telangana have criminal cases. The number is 67% for Delhi, 53% for Maharashtra, 45% for Andhra Pradesh and 44% for Bihar.

One Rajya Sabha MP has declared a murder case. Four have cases pertaining to attempt to murder.

Four MPs have declared cases relating to crimes against women.

Wealthy MPs

Thirty-two of the 230 Rajya Sabha MPs declared having assets that are worth more than Rs 100 crore, the Association for Democratic Reforms said.

Seven of the BJP’s 111 MPs in the House, or 6%, were in this category. The number was six of 29, or 21%, for the Congress, 50% for the YSR Congress Party and the TDP, and 67% for the Bharat Rashtra Samithi.

Fifty-seven MPs from Telangana have assets worth more than Rs 100 crore. It is followed by 45% from Andhra Pradesh, 30% from Odisha, 29% from Punjab and 8% from Gujarat.

The 230 MPs have combined assets worth more than Rs 26,500 crore, with the average being Rs 115 crore.

Forty-five percent MPs have assets worth Rs 10 crore or more.

The 2026 World Inequality Report released in December 2025 showed that India is one of the most unequal countries in the world, with the top 1% of the population holding 40% of the wealth. The richest 10% hold about 65% of the total wealth, the report said.