As many as eight of 14 newly sworn-in ministers in Bihar have criminal cases pending against them, and six of them have serious criminal cases declared against themselves, according to an analysis of the self-sworn election affidavits of the members of the new Nitish Kumar cabinet.
The Bihar Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms analysed the self-sworn affidavits of 14 of the 15 ministers, including the chief minister, finding that eight of them, or 57 per cent of the ministers, have criminal cases pending against them.
The record of Ram Surat Kumar, a minister belonging to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), could not be analysed due to unavailability of his complete and properly scanned affidavit on the website of the Election Commission of India.
Six ministers, or 43 per cent of the 14 ministers whose records were analysed, have declared serious criminal cases themselves. As many as four of the six BJP ministers analysed, or 67 per cent, have declared criminal cases against themselves, and the charges against two of them are of a serious nature. Of the six ministers belonging to the JD(U), two have declared criminal cases against themselves, and both of them face serious charges.
The lone ministers from the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) and Vikassheel Insaan Party have serious criminal cases pending against them.
With regard to the financial background of the members of the new Bihar cabinet, 13 of the 14 ministers analysed, or 93 per cent, are crorepatis. The average assets of the ministers is Rs 3.93 crore.
The minister with the highest declared total assets is Mewa Lal Choudhary with assets worth Rs 12.31 crore. The minister with the lowest declared total assets is Ashok Chaudhary, with assets worth Rs 72.89 lakh.
Ten of the 14 ministers analysed have an educational qualification of graduation and above. Four of the ministers have declared their educational qualification to be between eighth and 12th standard.
Six of the ministers are between 41 and 50 years of age, while eight of them are between 51 and 75 years old. Only two members of the Nitish Kumar cabinet are women.
