NEW DELHI: With assets worth little over Rs 15 lakh and Rs 55 lakh respectively West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah are the poorest among 31 incumbents in states and barring these two all are crorepatis, as Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu is the richest with assets of worth over Rs 931 crore, find ADR and National Election Watch (NEW), which analysed their self-sworn affidavits.
More to these, the election-watch bodies have also found that Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has the highest number of criminal cases filed against him with around 89 cases, 72 of which are serious IPC counts.
The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister has just Rs 10 crore of liabilities, and Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah with Rs 51 crore assets stood third among the chief ministers with the highest assets. Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prema Khandu is the second richest with assets worth over Rs 332 crore. But he topped the list of chief ministers with the highest liabilities, valued at Rs 180 crore. Siddaramaiah has liabilities valued at Rs 23 crore.
West Bengal chief minister Mamta Banerjee has the lowest assets of Rs 15 lakh followed by Jammu and Kashmir’s Omar Abdullah with Rs 55 lakh and Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan with Rs 1 crore. The total assets of 31 chief ministers are Rs. 1,630 crore.
In the findings, the gender ratio appeared skewed, as only two out of the 31 Chief Ministers are women.
Out of all 31 Chief Ministers analysed in state assemblies and Union Territories, 13 (42 per cent) have declared criminal cases against themselves. Around 10 (32 per cent) chief ministers have declared serious criminal cases, including those related to attempted murder, kidnapping, bribery and criminal intimidation.
Revanth Reddy is facing 34 charges related to criminal intimidation (IPC Section-506), 22 charges related to Section 505(2) (IPC Section-505(2)), and three charges related to statements leading to public mischief (IPC Section-505). Two charges pertain to cheating and dishonestly inducing the delivery of property (IPC Section 420). One charge pertains to the falsification of accounts, as outlined in IPC Section 477A. There is one charge under IPC Section 295A, which pertains to deliberate malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings or any class by insulting their religion or religious beliefs.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has the second highest number of cases, 47 in number, against him with a maximum of 11 cases under provisions of the IPC.