Who is India’s richest CM & who’s facing the most number of criminal cases? An ADR tell-all

July 30, 2026 Headlinesnews

Gurugram: An agriculturist-businessman-social worker with Rs 1,413.8 crore in total declared assets, an actor-turned-politician worth over Rs 648 crore, a chief minister with 89 pending criminal cases against him, and another with declared assets worth just Rs 55 lakh—an analysis of the wealth, criminal record and educational qualifications of India’s 31 chief ministers presents a study in contrasts.

A report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch, released on 27 July, looks at the self-sworn election affidavits of all sitting CMs of 28 states and three Union territories. The affidavits, filed with the Election Commission of India before their last elections, show a mixed picture.

For some, they reveal an image of enormous private wealth sitting alongside long lists of pending criminal cases—some as serious as attempt-to-murder and criminal breach of trust.

According to the report, 14 of the 31 CMs, or 45 percent, have declared criminal cases pending against themselves. Of these, 11, or 35 percent, face what ADR classifies as serious criminal cases—offences including bribery, criminal intimidation, forgery, promoting enmity between groups, attempt-to-murder, and so on.

Two chief ministers—West Bengal’s Suvendu Adhikari and Karnataka’s D.K. Shivakumar—have cases linked to attempt-to-murder under Section 307 of the Indian Penal Code against them.

In terms of wealth, the average declared assets per chief minister stand at Rs 118.07 crore, with the total wealth of all 31 chief ministers adding up to Rs 3,660 crore. Four CMs (13 percent) are billionaires in rupee terms, their declared assets exceeding Rs 100 crore by a wide margin.

Shivakumar is the richest CM, with declared assets totalling over Rs 1413 crore. On the other end of the spectrum is Jammu and Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah (Rs 55 lakh).

The report also looks at the age, gender and education qualification-wise split.

Of the 31, only one—Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta—is a woman.

Nine (29 percent) are post-graduates—the largest single group—followed by seven graduates (23 percent) and six graduate professionals (19 percent). Three CMs hold doctorates, while two have studied only up to Class 10.

By age, the largest group of chief ministers—17 of them—are between 51 and 60 years old. Puducherry CM N. Rangasamy is the oldest at 75 years old, while Arunachal Pradesh’s Pema Khandu and Meghalaya’s Conrad Sangma, both aged 44, are the youngest.

Also Read: BJP didn’t meet 33% quota in 21 polls since Women’s Reservation Bill passage, Congress met it once—ADR

Criminal cases

Telangana CM Anumula Revanth Reddy leads the pending cases list at 89, which include 72 IPC cases classified as serious. Most of the cases against him pertain to criminal intimidation, statements conducing to public mischief and cheating, many arising out of FIRs lodged in 2023 across multiple districts of Telangana.

Suvendu Adhikari follows with 29 pending cases, including a charge of attempt-to-murder, along with those of criminal intimidation, defamation, and offences under the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Several of the cases against him were registered in January 2026, just months before the ADR report was compiled.

Shivakumar has 19 cases, including matters under Prevention of Corruption Act and Prevention of Money Laundering Act pending before the Enforcement Directorate and courts in Bengaluru and Delhi.

Andhra Pradesh CM N. Chandrababu Naidu also has 19 cases, with 32 serious IPC charges spanning criminal breach of trust, cheating, and two counts of attempt-to-murder.

Sikkim’s P.S. Tamang is the only chief minister with a prior conviction, under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The billionaires

Of Shivakumar’s total declared assets, movable assets—cash, deposits, investments and jewellery—account for about Rs 273 crore, while immovable properties, mainly land and buildings, make up the bulk at over Rs 1,140 crore. His self-declared annual income is Rs 14.24 crore. He also carries liabilities of over Rs 265 crore, of which Rs 246 crore is disputed.

According to his 2023 assembly election affidavit accessed by ThePrint, the value of the Karnataka CM’s commercial properties stands at over Rs 942 crore, led by his stake in the Global Mall business space in Bengaluru’s Gopalapura area. He also owns residential properties worth over Rs 84 crore, including houses in Bengaluru’s Sadashivanagar and flats in Delhi’s Safdarjung Enclave. Additionally, he has agricultural and non-agricultural land parcels, worth over Rs 30 crore and Rs 70 crore respectively, across Ramanagara and Bengaluru, the affidavit says.

Naidu is next in the list, with total assets worth Rs 931.83 crore. Unlike Shivakumar, most of the Andhra CM’s wealth is in movable assets (over Rs 810 crore), with immovable property accounting for Rs 121 crore. His declared self-income stands at just Rs 18.39 lakh, while his profession is listed simply as “social service (politician)”.

Naidu’s 2024 poll affidavit, seen by ThePrint, shows that the bulk of his wealth sits in shares—over Rs 767 crore worth of movable assets, dominated by his family’s holding of over 2.26 crore shares in listed dairy major Heritage Foods Limited, along with smaller stakes in Bank of Baroda, and unlisted firms such as Megabid Finance & Investment and Nirvana Holdings.

Among his immovable assets is a Jubilee Hills residence in Hyderabad jointly owned with son Nara Lokesh, along with a commercial structure on 2.33 acres in Tamil Nadu’s Sriperumbudur, agricultural land in Telangana’s Ranga Reddy district, and non-agricultural land in Andhra Pradesh’s Kuppam, and an ancestral house in Chittoor district. His declared profession is listed as social service and politics, with income from salary and dividends, while his wife’s assets and business income account for the larger share of the family’s wealth.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay, also a popular film star, has declared assets of Rs 648.85 crore, split roughly evenly between movable assets (Rs 426 crore) and immovable property (Rs 222 crore). His self-income stands at Rs 184.53 crore, by far the highest among all 31 CMs.

Bulk of his movable assets is parked in bank deposits and fixed deposits, besides a fleet of cars including a BMW i7, a Toyota Lexus and a Toyota Vellfire, and gold and diamond jewellery worth over Rs 6 crore, according to his 2026 election affidavit. His immovable assets total over Rs 222 crore, spread across commercial buildings, non-agricultural land and residential properties.

Pema Khandu is the fourth member of the billionaires’ club with assets of Rs 332.56 crore, almost evenly split between movable (Rs 165 crore) and immovable (Rs 167 crore) assets. His case stands out for a different reason—he has declared zero self-income, and his liabilities of over Rs 180 crore are among the highest of any chief minister—second only to Shivakumar’s.

The other end

J&K CM Omar Abdullah has declared the lowest assets among all chief ministers, at just Rs 55.24 lakh—entirely movable. His self-income is listed at Rs 14.52 lakh, and his profession as politician.

Abdullah is followed by Suvendu Adhikari, who has declared assets of only Rs 85.87 lakh, again with no immovable property. His self-income stands at Rs 17.38 lakh from politics and business.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma has assets of Rs 1.46 crore, drawing income as proprietor of a firm called Shri Krishna Kannaiyya and Company, from a railways ministry salary he received until July 2023, and from rent and bank interest.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has declared assets of Rs 1.54 crore, entirely without liabilities, while Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s declared assets stand at Rs 1.97 crore, with an income of Rs 18.34 lakh listed simply under the profession of politician.

Between the billionaires at the top and the modest declarations at the bottom sit 21 chief ministers whose assets range from Rs 42.04 crore down to Rs 1.97 crore, a band that corresponds to two-thirds of the CMs.

Madhya Pradesh’s Mohan Yadav has assets worth Rs 42.04 crore, followed by Assam’s Himanta Biswa Sarma at Rs 35.16 crore. Sarma also has the third-highest liabilities of any chief minister, at over Rs 16.86 crore.

Among others in the middle band are Telangana’s Revanth Reddy (Rs 30.04 crore), Maharashtra’s Devendra Fadnavis (Rs 13.27 crore), Kerala’s V.D. Satheesan (Rs 6.65 crore), Haryana’s Nayab Singh (Rs 5.80 crore), Delhi’s Rekha Gupta (Rs 5.31 crore), and so on.

(Edited by Mannat Chugh)

Also Read: BJP richest party in India with Rs 6,064 cr in ’21-22, a rise of Rs 1,050 cr over previous yr: ADR

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