Chief Ministers and Crime: 45% of Indian CMs have pending cases

45% (14) of India’s current Chief Ministers have criminal convictions, with Telangana’s Revanth Reddy at the top, according to an analysis by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). Of the 89 cases filed against Mr Reddy, 72 are under serious sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) such as intimidation, promotion of enmity and assault, while 160 are others. The report released on Monday (July 27, 2026) analyzed the affidavits of CMs (from their last contested elections) of 31 states and Union Territories.

Crime CM

Behind Mr Reddy is West Bengal’s Suvendu Adhikari who has 29 cases (39 serious IPC charges, 78 in others) and Karnataka’s DK Shivakumar with 19 cases (6 under serious IPC sections, 45 in others). At the bottom of the list are Bhagwant Mann of Punjab, PS Tamang of Sikkim, Mohan Charan Majhi of Odisha and Bhajan Lal Sharma of Rajasthan with one case each. 11 of the 14 CMs prosecuted were booked for serious offences, including bribery, intimidation and, in the case of Mr Adhikari and Chandrababu Naidu of Andhra Pradesh, attempted murder.

Also read | About 30% of MPs and MLAs are facing serious criminal cases in India

When we dig deeper into the top five CMs with the highest number of criminal cases against them, intimidation is the most common serious crime they are alleged to have committed. In the case of Mr. Revanth Reddy, who was elected from Kodangal three times, the most serious charge is one charge of assaulting a woman, followed by 34 charges of criminal intimidation and 22 statements promoting hatred against the community.

One count of attempted murder and two counts of sexual harassment are the most serious charges against Mr Adhikari. The TMC-turned-BJP politician, who has been either an MP or an MLA since 2006, also has eight criminal charges of intimidation and abetting enmity against him.

In Karnataka, DK Shivakumar, who has been an MLA since 1989, has three charges of disappearance of evidence and one charge of bribery and forgery, while Kerala CM VD Satheesan, who has represented Paravur since 2001, has three charges of dissuading a public servant from doing his duty and one charge of dangerous intimidation by a criminal. In Jharkhand, Hemant Soren, who has been an MLA since 2009, has one count each of forgery, cheating, theft, etc.

C Joseph Vijay, Mr Majhi and Mr Sharma from Tamil Nadu remain the only exceptions against whom no serious criminal offenses have been registered. While Mr Vijay and Mr Sharma are first-time MLAs, Mr Majhi has been elected to Odisha Assembly from Keonjhar four times.

Although the NDA rules at least 22 states, only Mr Adhikari figures in the top five list of criminal CMs. Of the remaining four – Mr Reddy, Mr Shivakumar and Mr Satheesan belong to the Congress, while Mr Soren leads its ally Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM). All the above cases against these CMs are still pending.

Billionaires CM

The richest CM in India is Mr. DK Shivakumar with total assets exceeding ₹1413 crore, followed by Mr. Naidu (₹931 crore), Mr. Vijay (₹648 crore) and Mr. Pema Khandu (₹332 crore). Low asset managers include Jammu Kashmir’s Omar Abdullah (₹55,000), Mr Adhikari (₹85,000,000) and Bhajan Lal Sharma (₹1,000,000).

A closer look at their declared assets shows that Mr. Shivakumar comes first in immovable assets (₹1,140 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 professions declared by these CMs are social/political work, agriculture and salary as a representative of the people. Exceptions are advocates – VD Satheesan (Kerala), Rekha Sharma (Delhi) and doctors Manik Saha (Tripura), Pramod Sawant (Goa). Despite achieving superstardom in Tamil cinema, Mr. Vijay declared his profession as a property owner and administrator.

Other attributes

Ms. Sharma has the distinction of being the lone woman CM in India, which skews the gender bias to 3%. According to ADR, India has a total of 390 women MLAs (9%) out of a total of 4123 representatives across state and UT assemblies. The age distribution of 31 CM shows 17 aged 51-60, followed by 8 between 41-50. The oldest CMs aged 71-80 are – Mr Naidu from Andhra (74), N Rangasamy from Puducherry (75), Lalduhoma from Mizoram (73) and Neiphiu Rio from Nagaland (72). Conrad Sangma of Meghalaya and Pema Khandu of Arunachal Pradesh are the youngest CMs of India at the age of 44.

CMs’ educational qualifications show that at least 84% are 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 Man Bhagwant). The three CMs with the highest qualification – PhD are Mohan Yadav from Madhya Pradesh, Himanta Biswa Sarma from Assam and Samrat Choudhary from Bihar. The lowest and highest educated CMs all belong to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Published – 29 Jul 2026 07:29 IST