47% ministers in country face criminal charges!

New Delhi: Nearly 47 per cent of ministers in the country have declared criminal cases against themselves, including serious charges such as murder, kidnapping, and crimes against women, according to an analysis of poll rights body Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

The report came days after the Centre introduced three bills that sought the removal of prime minister, chief ministers, and ministers arrested or detained for 30 consecutive days on serious criminal charges involving punishment of five years or more. ADR examined self-sworn affidavits of 643 ministers from 27 state Assemblies, three Union Territories and the Union Council of Ministers, and found that 302 ministers, or 47 per cent of the total, have criminal cases against them.

Of these 302 ministers, 174 face serious criminal cases, the report stated.

According to the analysis, of 336 BJP ministers, 136 (40 per cent) declared criminal cases against themselves, and 88 (26 per cent) are facing serious charges.

The Congress, which is in power in four states, had 45 ministers (74 per cent) with criminal cases, including 18 (30 per cent) with serious offences. Of 31 DMK ministers, 27 -- accounting for around 87 per cent -- face criminal charges, while 14 (45 per cent) face serious cases. The Trinamool Congress too had 13 of its 40 ministers (33 per cent) with criminal cases, including 8 (20 per cent) with serious charges.

The Telugu Desam Party had the highest proportion, with 22 of its 23 ministers (96 per cent) declaring criminal cases and 13 (57 per cent) of them booked for serious offences. Among AAP ministers, 11 of 16 (69 per cent) face criminal cases, while five (31 per cent) are facing serious ones. At the national level, 29 of the 72 Union ministers (40 per cent) declared criminal cases in their affidavits. In the states, 11 assemblies -- Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Odisha, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab, Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and Puducherry -- have more than 60 per cent of ministers with criminal cases.

In contrast, ministers in Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Nagaland and Uttarakhand reported no criminal cases against themselves.

ADR has also come up with an analysis of the financial assets of ministers in the report. According to it, the average assets of ministers stood at Rs 37.21 crore, with the total assets of all 643 ministers amounting to Rs 23,929 crore. Out of the 30 Assemblies, 11 have billionaire ministers. Karnataka leads with the highest eight billionaire ministers, followed by Andhra Pradesh with six and Maharashtra with four such ministers.

Arunachal Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana and Telangana have two each, while Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab have one billionaire minister each.

RECORD OF SORTS!

♦   Of the total 302 ministers in the country (both Parliament and Assemblies), 174 face serious criminal cases

♦   Of 72 Union Ministers 29 face criminal cases

BJP - 136; TMC - 13; Cong - 45; TDP - 22; DMK - 27; AAP - 11