Half of new Tamil Nadu Cabinet face criminal charges: Report

Half of the newly sworn-in ministers of the Tamil Nadu Cabinet have criminal cases against them, while 20 per cent have assets over Rs 100 crore, said a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). According to the report, out of the 10 ministers analysed, five (50 per cent) have declared criminal cases against themselves, while three (30 per cent) ministers have declared serious criminal cases against themselves. Only one of ministers is a woman, it said. Two (20 per cent) ministers have more than Rs 100 crore, with Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay the richest among them with assets worth Rs 648.85 crore. The average assets of the cabinet is Rs 126.50 crore. The minister with the lowest declared total assets is Keerthana S, who won from Sivakasi constituency, with assets worth Rs 22.57 lakh. The report added that three ministers have declared their educational qualification to be between 8th and 12th standard while seven have declared having an educational qualification of graduate or above. An earlier report of the ADR, which analysed affidavits of the 233 winning candidates, said 126 (54 per cent) candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves, while 56 (24 per cent) face serious criminal charges. Out of 224 MLAs analysed during the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections in 2021, 134 (60 per cent) MLAs had declared criminal cases against themselves, and 193 (83 per cent) MLAs are crorepatis.

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