A report said 302 of the 643 ministers across 27 state assemblies, three Union Territories, and the Union Council of Ministers, declared criminal cases

174 ministers face serious charges including those related to murder, kidnapping, and crimes against women.(Unsplash)

Nearly half of India’s ministers across states and the Union government have declared criminal cases against them, including serious charges like murder and kidnapping, according to a new report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) released on Thursday.

The analysis covers 643 ministers from 27 state assemblies, three Union Territories, and the Union Council of Ministers, and shows that 302 or 47% declared criminal cases in their election affidavits. Among these, 174 ministers face serious charges including those related to murder, kidnapping, and crimes against women.

The report was released days after the Centre introduced bills in Parliament seeking removal of a sitting minister, chief minister or Prime Minister accused of serious crime and incarcerated for 30 days. Tabled in the Lok Sabha on August 20 amid a storm of Opposition protests and sloganeering, the bills have been sent to a yet to be formed joint parliamentary committee (JPC).

The report also presents a party-wise breakdown. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has 336 ministers, of whom 136 (40%) have declared criminal cases and 88 (26%) face serious charges. The Telugu Desam Party (TDP), a key NDA ally has 23 ministers of whom 22 have criminal cases against them, with 13 (57%) of them facing serious charges.

Among the Opposition parties, the Congress has 61 ministers out of which 45 (74%) face criminal cases, with 18 (30%) facing serious charges. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has 16 ministers, of which 11(69%) have criminal cases against them, with five (31%) facing serious charges. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has 40 ministers of which 13 (33%) face criminal cases with eight (20%) facing serious ones. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) records the highest percentage among INDIA bloc constituents, with 27 of its 31 ministers (87%) having criminal cases against them, with 14 (45%) facing serious charges.

The ADR noted that the statuses of criminal cases may have changed since the filing of affidavits between 2020 and 2025.

The analysis also includes financial disclosures. Ministers across India declared combined assets worth ₹23,929 crore, with an average of ₹37.21 crore per minister. Karnataka has eight ministers with declared assets exceeding ₹100 crore each, followed by Andhra Pradesh with six and Maharashtra with four.

In the Union Council of Ministers, six out of 72 (8%) are billionaires.

TDP MP Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani declared the highest assets at over ₹5,705 crore. Karnataka Congress leader DK Shivakumar and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu also feature among ministers with the most assets, with assets of ₹1,413 crore and ₹931 crore, respectively.

At the other extreme, Tripura minister Sukla Charan Noatia declared assets worth ₹2 lakh and West Bengal’s Birbaha Hansda declared a little over ₹3 lakh.