A report released by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) has revealed that 12 out of the 30 chief ministers in India, or 40 per cent, have declared criminal cases against themselves.
According to the analysis, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy tops the list with 89 cases, followed by Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin with 47. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has declared 19 cases, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah has 13, and Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren has five.
Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis and Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Singh each declared four cases, while Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan declared two and Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann declared one case.
The report highlights that 10 chief ministers, accounting for 33 per cent, are facing serious criminal cases such as attempt to murder, kidnapping, bribery, and criminal intimidation.
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This comes at a time when the government has introduced three new Bills in Parliament seeking to remove prime ministers, chief ministers, and ministers if they are arrested for 30 days on serious criminal charges.
The ADR stated that it analysed the self-sworn affidavits of all 30 sitting chief ministers in state Assemblies and Union Territories, based on the documents they filed before contesting their last elections.
