All the 12 ministers in the newly-elected Chhattisgarh cabinet led by Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and all the 25 in the Rajasthan Council of Ministers headed by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, are multimillionaires.
According to an analysis by election watchdog Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR)released on Thursday, two Chhattisgarh ministers including Baghel and nine in Gehlot's Council of Ministers face criminal cases.
The average assets of Chhattisgarh ministers is pegged at Rs 47.13 crore.
The average assets of the ministers in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Chief Minister Raman Singh's cabinet in 2013 stood at Rs 3.04 crore, with 11 of the 12 ministers being multimillionaires, while that of the 2008 cabinet was merely Rs 0.81 crore, with only four of the 13 ministers declaring properties in excess of Rs 1 crore.
Richest Minister in the tribal-dominated state is T.S. Singh Deo, who possesses assets in excess of Rs 500 crore, followed by Chief Minister Baghel with properties worth over Rs 23 crore.
As regards criminal background, two ministers Korba lawmaker Jaisingh Agrawal and Baghel face criminal cases that include charges of forgery, cheating and rioting.
Much like in 2008 and 2013, the current Chhattisgarh cabinet has a solitary female Minister.
In Rajasthan, the average assets of the 25 ministers is Rs 15.48 crore, with Nimbahera lawmaker and Co-operative Minister Udai Lal Anjana being the richest possessing properties worth over Rs 107 crore.
The average assets of the ministers in BJP Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje's cabinet in 2013 stood at Rs 4.62 crore, with 22 of the 23 ministers being multimillionaires.
As for criminal background, nine Rajasthan ministers have declared criminal cases, with Industries Minister Parsadi Lal facing charges of murder, and Youth and Sports Minister Ashok Chandna facing charges of attempt to murder.
In contrast to the Raje cabinet, which had four woman ministers, Gehlot has only one female in his Council of Ministers.
Baghel, on Tuesday inducted nine new ministers to expand the cabinet to 12, while Gehlot expanded his Council of Ministers on Monday inducting 23 new ministers.
--IANS
and/nir
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