Seven ministers in the new state Cabinet have criminal cases against them. Three have serious criminal cases against them. Of these, newly appointed Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi is involved in 10 criminal cases, one of which is a serious offence. These findings have been published by the Gujarat Election Watch and the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR)  on members of the newly-formed Gujarat Cabinet.
The report came a day after Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel allocated portfolios to 24 newly-inducted ministers.
As per the report, seven ministers (28%) face criminal cases, of which three have serious charges levelled against them.
After the swearing-in ceremony of the new Cabinet on Thursday, the Gujarat Election Watch and the ADR analysed the affidavits of all 25 ministers, including the CM, and published the report which showed that 19 of the new ministers are crorepatis (millionaires).
According to the report, the average assets of the 25 ministers are estimated to be Rs 3.95 crore.
The minister with the highest declared assets is Hrishikesh Ganeshbhai Patel from the Visnagar constituency, with assets worth Rs 14.95 crore. He is followed by Jagdish Panchal Nikol from Ahmedabad constituency with Rs 14.75 crore assets, while Kuber Dindor from Santrampur constituency has assets worth Rs 10.94 crore. Unlike the first two, who studied till Class 12, Dindor has a doctorate to his credit.
The minister with the lowest declared assets is Chauhan Arjunsinh Udesinh from Mehmedabad constituency, with assets worth Rs 12.57 lakh.
On the education front, there is a mixed bag of ministers in the new Cabinet. A total of 13 (52%) ministers have declared their educational qualification to be between Class 8 and Class 12, while 11 (44%) are graduates or have higher degrees. One minister has declared he is ‘just literate’.
The BJP top brass has expressed faith in the junior MLAs to become ministers under Bhupendra Patel, with more than half under 51 years of age. A total of 13 (52%) ministers have declared their age as between 31 and 50 years, while the remaining 12 (48%) are between 51 and 70 years.
As many as 18 ministers in the Cabinet have declared liabilities, out of which the minister with the highest liabilities is Jagdish Panchal at Rs 3.13 crore.