New Delhi: Nearly 47% of ministers across India have declared criminal cases against themselves, including serious offences such as murder, kidnapping, and crimes against women, according to an analysis by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
The report comes shortly after the Centre introduced three bills aimed at disqualifying prime ministers, chief ministers, and other ministers arrested for 30 days on serious criminal charges.
ADR examined self-sworn affidavits of 643 ministers from 27 state assemblies, three Union Territories, and the Union Council of Ministers. It found that 302 ministers, or 47% of the total, have criminal cases against them. Of these, 174 face serious charges.
Party-wise breakdown:
BJP: Of 336 ministers, 136 (40%) declared criminal cases, with 88 (26%) facing serious charges.
Congress: Among 61 ministers, 45 (74%) have criminal cases, including 18 (30%) with serious offences.
DMK: 27 of 31 ministers (87%) face criminal charges, 14 (45%) of them serious.
Trinamool Congress: 13 of 40 ministers (33%) have criminal cases, 8 (20%) serious.
Telugu Desam Party (TDP): 22 of 23 ministers (96%) declared criminal cases, with 13 (57%) booked for serious offences.
AAP: 11 of 16 ministers (69%) face criminal cases, with five (31%) facing serious charges.
At the national level, 29 of 72 Union ministers (40%) reported criminal cases in their affidavits.
State-wise trends: Eleven assemblies — Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Odisha, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab, Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, and Puducherry — have over 60% of ministers with criminal cases. In contrast, ministers in Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Nagaland, and Uttarakhand reported no criminal cases.
Financial assets of ministers:
ADR’s analysis shows that the average ministerial assets stand at ₹37.21 crore, with the total assets of all 643 ministers reaching ₹23,929 crore.
- Billionaire ministers: 11 assemblies have at least one billionaire minister. Karnataka leads with eight, followed by Andhra Pradesh (6) and Maharashtra (4). Arunachal Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, and Telangana have two each, while Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Punjab have one each. At the Union level, six of 72 ministers (8%) are billionaires.
- Party-wise: BJP has 14 billionaire ministers, Congress 11, and TDP 6. Other parties with billionaire ministers include AAP, Janasena, JD(S), NCP, and Shiv Sena.
Top ministers by wealth:
- Dr. Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani (TDP, Andhra Pradesh) – ₹5,705 crore
- D.K. Shivakumar (Karnataka Congress) – ₹1,413 crore
- N. Chandrababu Naidu (AP CM, TDP) – ₹931 crore
Other wealthy ministers include Narayana Ponguru and Nara Lokesh (AP), Gaddam Vivekanand and Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy (Telangana), Suresha B.S. (Karnataka), Mangal Prabhat Lodha (Maharashtra), and Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia.
At the lower end, some ministers reported modest assets, such as Sukla Charan Noatia (Tripura, Indigenous Peoples Front) with ₹2 lakh and Birbaha Hansda (West Bengal, Trinamool Congress) with just over ₹3 lakh.
ADR noted that the status of these criminal cases may have changed since the affidavits were filed with the Election Commission during polls held between 2020 and 2025.
