National Election Watch (NEW) and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) have analysed the self-sworn affidavits of 64 ministers out of 66 Ministers (Including Prime Minister) from Lok Sabha 2014 and current Rajya Sabha.
In a recent cabinet expansion, 21 new ministers were inducted in the cabinet.
Ministers with Criminal Cases: Among newly inducted cabinet ministers, 8 have declared criminal cases against themselves. Out of the total 64 Ministers analysed, 20 (31%) Ministers have declared criminal cases against themselves.
Ministers with Serious Criminal Cases: Among newly inducted cabinet ministers, 4 ministers have declared serious criminal cases. In total, 11 (17%) ministers have declared serious criminal cases including cases related to attempt to murder, communal disharmony, electoral violations etc.
Minister with case related to Attempt to Murder: Among newly inducted cabinet ministers, Dr. Ramshankar Katheria from Agra Constituency has declared a case related to attempt to murder. Among the rest of the ministers, Uma Bharti from Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh of BJP had also declared a case related to attempt to murder (IPC Section-307)
Ministers with cases related to Electoral Violations: Among newly inducted cabinet ministers, Giriraj Singh of Nawada Constituency declared a case related to undue influence or personation at an election (IPC Section-171F). Among the rest of the ministers, Uma Bharti of BJP from Jhansi constituency, Uttar Pradesh, had also declared a case related to Illegal payments in connection with an election (IPC Section-171H) along with Upendra Kushwaha of Rashtriya Lok Samta Party from Karakat constituency, Bihar and Ram Vilas Paswan of LJP from Hajipur constituency, Bihar have each declared a case related to Bribery (IPC Section – 171E)
Financial Background
Crorepati Ministers: Out of the 64 ministers analysed, 59 (92%) are crorepatis.
Average Assets: The average assets of the newly inducted ministers are Rs. 18.48 crores. In totality, the average assets per minister are Rs.14.25 crores.
High Asset Ministers: Among the newly inducted ministers, Yalamanchili Satyanarayana Chowdary, Rajya Sabha member from Andhra Pradesh declared the highest total assets of Rs. 189.69 crores followed by Jayant Sinha from Hazaribagh constituency with assets worth Rs. 55.67 crores and Mahesh Sharma from Gautam Budhha Nagar with total assets worth Rs. 47.37 crores.
Low Asset Ministers: Among newly inducted ministers analysed, Sadhavi Niranjan Jyoti from Fatehpur declared the lowest total assets worth Rs. 37.63 lakhs. A total of 5 ministers out of 64 ministers had declared assets less than Rs. 1 crore.
Asset Comparison of Newly Inducted Ministers
The Association for Democratic Reforms compared the assets of the newly inducted ministers with their previous election affidavits from Lok Sabha 2009 elections. In case the minister considered had not contested the previous 2009 Lok Sabha elections, any previous declaration during elections after 2009 have been analysed.
The previous declarations of eight newly inducted ministers were available for comparison with their recent declarations. Out of these, five ministers’ assets were compared with the total assets declared during the Lok Sabha 2009 elections. The asset declarations of Mohanbhai Kalyanjibhai Kundariya from Rajkot constituency were compared with the assets declared during the Gujarat 2012 elections. The asset declarations of Sanwar Lal Jat from Ajmer constituency were compared with the assets declared during the Rajasthan 2013 elections and the The asset declarations of Ram Kripal Yadav from Patalipura constituency were compared with the assets declared in the Rajya Sabha 2011 affidavit.
The newly inducted minister with the highest increase in assets is Mahesh Sharma from Gautam Budhha Nagar with an increase in assets of Rs. 31.52 crores from Rs. 15.85 crores in Lok Sabha 2009 to Rs. 47.37 crores in 2014.
Among 64 ministers analysed in total, 12 (19%) Ministers have declared that have an education qualification of 12th pass or below while 51 (80%) Ministers have declared having an educational qualification of Graduation and above.
The details of Suresh Prabhu and Birendra Singh were not analysed as they are not currently members of either house.
