With Rs 332 Cr net worth, Arunachal CM tops Northeast's richest CM list: Report

Guwahati, Dec 31: Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu has been named the richest Chief Minister in the Northeast and the second wealthiest in the country, according to a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, who represents Mukto in Tawang district, has a declared net worth of ₹332 crore.

Nationally, he trails only former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), whose wealth stands at a staggering ₹931 crore.

Khandu also leads the pack in terms of declared liabilities, with an outstanding amount of ₹180 crore. He is followed by Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Chandrababu Naidu in this category.

On the other end of the spectrum, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has emerged as the nation’s ‘poorest’ chief minister, with declared assets worth just ₹15 lakh.

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo is followed by Jammu and Kashmir’s Omar Abdullah, who has assets of ₹55 lakh, and Kerala’s Pinarayi Vijayan, who declared assets worth ₹1 crore.

The data was published in the ADR’s report released on Monday. The analysis, conducted in collaboration with the National Election Watch (NEW), reviewed self-sworn affidavits of all 31 current chief ministers from state Assemblies and Union Territories across India.

The information was extracted from affidavits filed by the leaders prior to contesting their last elections.

The ADR report shed light on significant economic disparities in the country. While India’s per capita net national income (NNI) for 2023-24 was approximately ₹1,85,854, the average self-income of a chief minister stood at ₹13,64,310—a figure 7.3 times higher than the national average.

In addition to wealth disclosures, the report also revealed criminal backgrounds among the nation’s chief ministers.

Thirteen leaders (42%) have declared criminal cases against themselves, with 10 (32%) facing serious charges including attempted murder, kidnapping, bribery, and criminal intimidation.

Out of the 31 chief ministers analysed, only two are women - West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee and Delhi’s Atishi.