New Delhi: Andhra Pradesh CM N. Chandrababu Naidu is the wealthiest chief minister in the country, declaring combined assets of more than Rs 931 crore with his spouse, according to a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). At the other end of the spectrum is West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee with assets valued at over Rs 15 lakh.
ADR based its findings on an analysis of the self-sworn affidavits of the 30 chief ministers. The data was extracted from the affidavits filed by them before the previous Assembly elections. Total assets for all chief ministers include those of their spouses and dependents.
Naidu owns movable assets worth more than over Rs 810 crore, and immovable assets worth more than Rs 121 crore. The corresponding figures for Khandu are Rs 165 crore and over Rs 167 crore respectively, according to the ADR report.
Naidu is followed in the list by Arunachal Pradesh CM Pema Khandu who has total declared assets worth Rs 332 crores, and Karnataka’s Siddaramaiah with more than Rs 51 crore.
Naidu and Khandu are the only two billionaire chief ministers in the country. Naidu had declared total assets worth over Rs 177 crore in 2014, with his spouse investing Rs 111 crore in bonds, debentures and company shares.
These have seen a consistent rise, with the bonds, debentures and shares component of his assets increasing to over Rs 549 crores in 2019, and over Rs 767 crore in 2024.
The value of his immovable assets, which include land, commercial buildings, and residential building also grew from over Rs 42 crore in 2014 to more than Rs 121 crores.
Similarly, the value of Khandu’s immovable assets, which include agricultural and non-agricultural land as well as commercial and residential buildings increased from Rs 26 crore in 2014 to over Rs 167 crore in 2014.
According to the latest ADR report, Jammu & Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah is just above Mamata Banerjee with his declared assets worth more than Rs 55 lakh, while Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan follows him with over Rs 1.18-crore worth of assets.
Most chief ministers, 16 in total, lie in the range of Rs 1 crore and Rs 10 crore worth of assets.
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Liability, qualifications & criminal cases
The report also finds that 11 chief ministers have declared liabilities of Rs 1 crore and above. Khandu and Siddaramaiah top this list, with liabilities of Rs 180 crore and Rs 23 crore respectively, followed by Naidu, who has liabilities of over Rs 10 crore.
The report also looked at the educational qualifications of chief ministers, and found that only two—Madhya Pradesh’s Mohan Yadav and Assam’s Himanta Biswa Sarma—hold a doctorate. Nine chief ministers are graduates, and six post-graduates.
Chhattisgarh’s Vishnu Deo Sai is a 10th pass, and three CMs—Jharkhand’s Hemant Soren, Punjab’s Bhagwant Mann and Kerala’s Pinarayi Vijayan—are 12th pass.
The report also reveals that of the 30 chief ministers, 12 (or around 40 percent) have declared criminal cases. Of these, 10 have serious criminal cases against them.
The report considers serious criminal cases as those offences for which the maximum punishment is five years or more, or if the offence is non-bailable, or if it is an electoral offence, or if the offence relates to loss to the exchequer.
It also included offences that relate to assault, murder, kidnap, rape, or offences under Prevention of Corruption Act, or crimes against women and children.
The most number of pending cases are against Telangana’s A. Revanth Reddy, with 89 pending cases, followed by Tamil Nadu’s M.K. Stalin with 47 pending cases, and Chandrababu Naidu with 19.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
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