After Sunday’s induction of 21 new Ministers, 92 per cent of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Cabinet now consists of crorepatis, says an analysis by the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch, non-profit election watchdogs.
Of the 64 affidavits analysed, 59 Ministers were crorepatis, with average assets of the newly elected Ministers at Rs 18.48 crore, ADR said in a release. The details of Suresh Prabhu and Birendra Singh were not analysed as they are not members of either House.
Among the new Ministers, Yalamanchili Satyanarayana Chowdary, Rajya Sabha member from Andhra Pradesh, has declared the highest assets of Rs 189.69 crore, followed by Jayant Sinha from Jharkhand with assets worth Rs 55.67 crore and Mahesh Sharma from Gautam Budhha Nagar, UP, with assets worth Rs 47.37 crore.
The lowest assets (Rs 37.63 lakh) were declared by Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti from Fatehpur, UP.
The highest increase in assets has been declared by Mahesh Sharma, owner of a hospital chain in UP. The assets of Sharma rose by Rs 31.52 crore from Rs 15.85 crores as Lok Sabha MP in 2009 to Rs 47.37 crores in 2014.
The crime quotient of the Modi Cabinet has also risen after the expansion, with eight Cabinet Ministers declaring criminal cases against themselves.
Among new Cabinet Ministers, four have declared serious criminal cases. In total, 11 (17 per cent) Ministers have declared serious criminal cases, such as cases related to attempt to murder, communal disharmony, electoral violations etc. Ramshankar Katheria from Agra Constituency has declared a case related to attempt to murder. Giriraj Singh of Nawada Constituency declared a case related to undue influence or personation at an election (IPC Section-171F). Among the rest, Uma Bharti from Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, had also declared a case related to illegal payments in connection with an election (IPC Section-171H) along with Upendra Kushwaha of Rashtriya Lok Samta Party from Karakat constituency, Bihar and Ram Vilas Paswan of LJP from Hajipur constituency, Bihar have each declared a case related to Bribery (IPC Section – 171E), said ADR.