Kottayam: Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Phadnavis and Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan are at the first and second slots respectively in the number of criminal cases registered against them. As per a report published by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch (NEW) Phadnavis had 22 cases against him, followed by Pinarayi Vijayan (11), and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal (10).
The report was published after scrutinizing the self sworn affidavits of the leaders. According to the report, around 35 per cent chief ministers had criminal cases against them. "Out of the all 31 chief ministers analyzed from state assemblies and Union territories, 11 (35 per cent), had declared criminal cases against themselves," the report said.
Further, 26 per cent CMs had declared serious criminal cases, including those related to murder, attempt to murder, cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property, criminal intimidation, among others.
"The Kerala CM has the second highest number of criminal cases registered against his name, with serious charges such as 'cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property,' rioting and criminal conspiracy," the report said. Arvind Kejriwal mostly faced charges of unlawful assembly, obstructing a public servant from the discharge of their duty and defamation.
The report found Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu to be the richest with a total worth of Rs 177 crore, followed by Arunanchal Pradesh's Pema Khandu (over Rs 129 crore) and Amarinder Singh of Punjab (over Rs 48 crore).
Pinarayi Vijayan has assets worth Rs 1.07 crore, including immovable assets worth Rs 86.9 lakh. The CM with the lowest declared asset was Tripura's Manik Sarkar with assets worth Rs 27 lakh, followed by West Bengal's Mamata Banerjee (over Rs 30 lakh) and Jammu and Kashmir's Mehbooba Mufti (Rs 56 lakh).
As many as 25 CMs, or 81 per cent, are crorepatis, with two of them having assets to the tune of over Rs 100 crore. The average assets of CMs are worth Rs 16.18 crore.
In terms of educational qualification, 10 per cent of 31 chief ministers are 12th pass, 39 per cent graduates, 32 per cent graduate professionals, 16 per cent postgraduates and 3 per cent with doctorate.