45% (14) of India’s current Chief Ministers have criminal cases lodged against them, with Telangana’s Revanth Reddy topping the list, according to an analysis done by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). Of the 89 cases lodged against Mr. Reddy, 72 are under serious sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) such as criminal intimidation, promoting enmity and assault, while 16 are others. The report, published on Monday (July 27, 2026), has analysed the self-sworn affidavits of CMs (from their last contested elections) of 31 States and Union territories.
Criminality of CMs
Following Mr. Reddy is West Bengal’s Suvendu Adhikari, who has 29 cases (39 charges of under serious IPC, 78 in others) and Karnataka’s D.K. Shivakumar with 19 cases (six under serious IPC sections, 45 in others). At the bottom of the list are Punjab’s Bhagwant Mann, Sikkim’s P.S. Tamang, Odisha’s Mohan Charan Majhi and Rajasthan’s Bhajan Lal Sharma with one case each. 11 of the 14 CMs with criminal cases against them have been booked under serious offences including bribery, criminal intimidation and in the case of Mr. Adhikari and Andhra Pradesh’s Chandrababu Naidu — attempt to murder.
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Digging further into the top five CMs with the highest number of criminal cases against them, criminal intimidation is the most common grievous offence allegedly committed by them. In the case of Mr. Revanth Reddy, who has been elected thrice from Kodangal, the most grievous charge is one assault charge against a woman, followed by 34 charges of criminal intimidation and 22 counts of statements promoting community hatred.
One charge of attempt to murder and two charges of sexual harassment are the most grievous charges against Mr. Adhikari. The TMC-turned-BJP politician, who has either been an MP or MLA since 2006, also has eight charges each of criminal intimidation and promoting enmity against him.
In Karnataka, D.K. Shivakumar, who was been an MLA since 1989, has three charges of disappearance of evidence, and one charge each of bribery and forgery while Kerala CM V.D. Satheesan, who has represented Paravur since 2001, has three charges to deter a public servant from doing his duty, one count each under criminal intimidation, causing hurt by dangerous weapon. In Jharkhand, Hemant Soren, who has been an MLA since 2009, has one count each under forgery, cheating, theft etc.
Tamil Nadu’s C Joseph Vijay, Mr. Majhi and Mr. Sharma remain the only exception with no serious offences lodged against them. While Mr. Vijay and Mr. Sharma are first time MLAs, Mr. Majhi has been elected four times to the Odisha Assembly from Keonjhar.
Though NDA rules at least 22 States, only Mr. Adhikari features in the top five list of criminal CMs. Of the remaining four – Mr. Reddy, Mr. Shivakumar and Mr. Satheesan belong to Congress while Mr. Soren heads its ally Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM).
Billionaire CMs
Richest CM in India is Mr. D.K Shivakumar with his total assets exceeding ₹1413 crores, followed by Mr. Naidu (₹931 crore), Mr. Vijay (₹648 crore) and Mr. Pema Khandu (₹332 crore). Among the low asset CMs are Jammu-Kashmir’s Omar Abdullah (₹55 lakh), Mr. Adhikari (₹85 lakhs) and Bhajan Lal Sharma (₹1 crore).
A closer look at their declared assets shows Mr. Shivakumar ranking top in immovable assets (₹1140 crore), liabilities (₹265 crore) and disputed assets of ₹ 246 crore. On the other hand, Mr. Naidu tops the list in movable assets (₹810 crore), followed by Mr. Vijay (₹426 crore). The most common profession declared by these CMs are social/political work, agriculture and salary as a people’s representative. Exceptions to these are advocates – V.D. Satheesan (Kerala), Rekha Sharma (Delhi) and doctors Manik Saha (Tripura), Pramod Sawant (Goa). Inspite of achieving super stardom in Tamil Cinema, Mr. Vijay has declared his profession as a property owner and trustee.
Other attributes
Ms. Sharma has distinction as the lone female CM in India, making the gender bias skewed to 3%. In total, India has 390 female MLAs (9%) of the total 4123 representatives across state and UT assemblies, according to ADR. An agewise split of the 31 CMs show 17 between the ages 51-60, followed by 8 between 41-50. The oldest CMs falling between 71-80 years are – Andhra’s Mr. Naidu (74), Puducherry’s N Rangasamy (75), Mizoram’s Lalduhoma (73) and Nagaland’s Neiphiu Rio (72). Meghalaya’s Conrad Sangma and Arunachal Pradesh’s Pema Khandu are India’s youngest CMs at 44 years.
Educational qualifications of the CMs show that 84% are atleast diploma or graduate holders, while two are 10th pass (Chhatisgarh’s Vishnu Deo Sai and Manipur’s Yumnam Khemchand Singh) and three are 12th pass (Mr. Vijay, Mr. Soren and Punjab’s Bhagwant Mann). Three CMs with the highest qualification – doctorate degree, are Madhya Pradesh’s Mohan Yadav, Asam’s Himanta Biswa Sarma and Bihar’s Samrat Choudhary. The CMs with the least and the highest educational qualifications all belong to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Published – July 29, 2026 07:29 am IST
