Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu is the richest Chief Minister in India with declared assets worth over Rs 931 crore, while Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has the highest number of declared criminal cases, according to a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch (NEW).
The report, released on Monday, December 30, analyses the self-sworn affidavits of all 31 current Chief Ministers across India. The assets considered include those declared in the Chief Minister’s spouse’s and dependents’ names.
According to the data, extracted from affidavits filed by the Chief Ministers prior to contesting their last elections, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief Chandrababu Naidu is the richest with assets of Rs 931 crore while West Bengal's Mamata Banerjee has the least amount of wealth, with just Rs 15 lakh worth of declared assets.
In Naidu’s affidavit, assets worth over Rs 895 crore are in his wife Nara Bhuvaneswari’s name alone, who is also the Managing Director of Heritage Foods Limited. The biggest component is shares in Heritage Foods in her name worth Rs 764 crore. She also owns agricultural land in Serilingampally worth Rs 55 crore.
Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah is the third richest, way behind Naidu with Rs 51 crore worth of assets declared. Arunachal Pradesh CM and BJP leader Pema Khandu ranks second, with assets worth Rs 332 crore declared. The list has only two billionaire CMs.
Telangana CM Revanth Reddy ranks seventh richest with assets worth Rs 30 crore. In 14th place, Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin has declared assets worth only Rs 8 crore. Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan is in third place from the bottom, with declared assets worth around Rs 1 crore.
The total assets of 31 Chief Ministers are worth Rs 1,630 crore. The average assets per Chief Minister of states and Union Territories is Rs 52.59 crore.
While India's per capita net national income or NNI was approximately Rs 1,85,854 for 2023-2024, the average self-income of a Chief Minister is Rs 13,64,310, around 7.3 times the average per capita income of India, says the report.
The report also shows that Khandu also has the highest liabilities to the tune of Rs. 180 crore. Siddaramaiah has liabilities worth Rs 23 crore. Chandrababu Naidu’s liabilities stood at Rs 10 crore.
With assets worth Rs 55 lakh, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is in second last place.
According to the report, out of 31 Chief Ministers, 13 have declared criminal cases against themselves. Ten Chief Ministers have declared serious criminal cases including those related to attempt to murder, kidnapping, bribery, criminal intimidation etc.
Revanth Reddy has 89 cases against him. According to the report, 72 of these cases are of serious nature.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin is second on the list with 47 cases including 11 serious IPC counts. Chandrababu Naidu has 19 criminal cases against him.
Out of the 31 Chief Ministers, only two are women — West Bengal's Mamata Banerjee and Delhi's Atishi.
The analysis on the basis of age group shows, 12 Chief Ministers are in the age group of 51-60. Seven are aged between 41 and 50 years. Six are in the age group of 71-80 and five in 61-70. There is only one in the 31-40 age group.
The education analysis shows 10 Chief Ministers are graduates while nine are post-graduate. One CM has passed Class 10 while three are Class 12 pass.
With IANS inputs