Criminal Records: A Look at the Cases Facing Indian Chief Ministers

A new report by the election rights organization ADR reveals that a significant portion of Indian chief ministers are facing criminal charges. The report states that 12 out of 30 chief ministers, which is 40 percent, have declared criminal cases against them. Revanth Reddy, the Chief Minister of Telangana, has the highest number of declared cases, with a total of 89. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has 47 declared cases. Other chief ministers mentioned in the report include Chandrababu Naidu of Andhra Pradesh with 19 cases, Siddaramaiah of Karnataka with 13 cases, and Hemant Soren of Jharkhand with 5 cases. Additionally, Devendra Fadnavis and Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, the chief ministers of Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh respectively, each have four declared cases. Pinarayi Vijayan, the Chief Minister of Kerala, has two declared cases, and Bhagwant Mann, the Chief Minister of Punjab, has one declared case. This report comes at a time when the government has introduced three bills, which include clauses that allow for the removal of prime ministers, chief ministers, and ministers arrested for serious criminal charges for 30 days. The ADR report also highlights that 10 chief ministers, equivalent to 33 percent, have declared serious criminal cases, including charges related to attempted murder, kidnapping, bribery, and criminal intimidation. The data was obtained from the self-declared affidavits submitted by all 30 current chief ministers of states and union territories. These were the affidavits filed before contesting their previous elections.