New Delhi: Almost 47 per cent of the country’s ministers have criminal charges pending against them, including serious offences such as murder, kidnapping and crimes against women, according to an analysis by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
The findings come days after the Union government introduced three bills proposing the disqualification of prime ministers, chief ministers and ministers if they remain under arrest for more than 30 days on serious criminal charges.
ADR examined self-sworn affidavits of 643 ministers across 27 state assemblies, three Union Territories and the Union Council of Ministers.
Of these, 302 ministers (47 per cent) declared criminal cases, while 174 (27 per cent) face serious charges.
The BJP, with the largest share of ministers, had 136 of 336 (40 per cent) reporting criminal cases, including 88 with serious allegations.
In the Congress, 45 of 61 ministers (74 per cent) declared criminal cases, while 18 faced serious offences.
The DMK had one of the highest proportions — 27 of its 31 ministers (87 per cent) with criminal cases, of whom 14 faced grave charges.
The Telugu Desam Party topped the list, with 22 of its 23 ministers (96 per cent) declaring criminal cases and 13 booked for serious crimes.
Among AAP ministers, 11 of 16 (69 per cent) reported criminal cases, five of them serious.
At the national level, 29 of 72 Union ministers (40 per cent) admitted to having criminal charges against them.
State-wise, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Odisha, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab, Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and Puducherry recorded more than 60 per cent of ministers with criminal cases.
In contrast, ministers in Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Nagaland and Uttarakhand reported none.
The ADR report also analysed the wealth of ministers. Collectively, the 643 ministers declared assets worth nearly Rs. 23,929 crore, with average assets pegged at Rs. 37.21 crore.
Eleven Assemblies have billionaire ministers, led by Karnataka (eight), Andhra Pradesh (six) and Maharashtra (four).
The richest minister is TDP’s Dr Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani, Lok Sabha MP from Guntur, who disclosed assets exceeding Rs. 5,705 crore.
Karnataka Congress leader D K Shivakumar ranks second with more than Rs. 1,413 crore, followed by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu at over Rs. 931 crore.
Others in the top 10 include Narayana Ponguru and Nara Lokesh (Andhra Pradesh), Gaddam Vivekanand and Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy (Telangana), Suresha B S (Karnataka), Mangal Prabhat Lodha (Maharashtra) and Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia.
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At the other end, Tripura’s Sukla Charan Noatia (Indigenous Peoples Front) reported assets of just Rs. 2 lakh, while West Bengal’s Birbaha Hansda (Trinamool Congress) declared little over Rs. 3 lakh.
Party-wise, the BJP had the most billionaire ministers — 14 in all, though only 4 per cent of its total. Congress followed with 11 of 61 (18 per cent).
The TDP had six billionaire ministers (26 per cent), while the AAP, Janasena Party, JD(S), NCP and Shiv Sena also featured in the list.
ADR clarified that the status of some cases may have changed since the affidavits were filed with the Election Commission between 2020 and 2025.
