At least 20 of the 44 ministers or 45% in the UP government are facing criminal cases, according to a report prepared by UP Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), an advocacy group.
Also, 35 of them or 80% are ‘crorepatis’, says the report which is based on the analyses of self-sworn affidavits of these leaders.
Affidavits of three ministers, namely, Dinesh Sharma, Swatantra Dev Singh and Mohsin Raza could not be analysed due to unavailability of data.
While Sharma has quit as Lucknow mayor after taking oath as deputy CM, the other two ministers are not presently members of either the state assembly or the legislative council.
“Out of the 44 ministers, 35 (80%) are crorepatis. The average assets of the ministers is Rs 5.34 crore,” said a release issued by the organisation.
Besides, 20 (45%) ministers have criminal cases against them. The study listed the charges as robbery, theft, forgery and voluntarily causing hurt.
The richest minister as per the affidavits is Nand Gopal Gupta Nandi from Allahabad (South) assembly constituency with assets worth Rs 57.11 crore, the report said.
{{/usCountry}}The richest minister as per the affidavits is Nand Gopal Gupta Nandi from Allahabad (South) assembly constituency with assets worth Rs 57.11 crore, the report said.
{{/usCountry}}Chief minister Adityanath has assets worth over Rs 71 lakh, while deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya had over Rs 9 crore worth assets, the report said.
As many as 28 ministers have declared liabilities, and Nandi, again topped the list, with Rs 26.02 crore worth liabilities.
On educational qualification, the report said seven (16%) ministers have declared their qualification to be between 10th and 12th pass, while 37 (84%) are graduates or have higher degrees.
At least 18 (41%) have declared their age to be between 25–50 years, while 26 (59%) between 51–80 years. Out of 44 ministers, only five are women.