NEW DELHI: Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi criticized Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday for being listed among the richest chief ministers in the country. Referring to a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) released on Monday, Gogoi pointed out the contrast between Sarma’s wealth and Assam’s development.
Gogoi shared his remarks on ‘X’, saying, “What was promised by the BJP chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma that Assam will be in the top 5 states in India in terms of development. Instead chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma himself is on the verge of becoming one of the top 5 richest chief ministers in India.”
He added that four NDA chief ministers from northeast India are in the top 10 richest chief ministers list, yet their states rank low on the Human Development Index (HDI). Gogoi highlighted that Sarma is ranked among richest CMs with assets worth Rs 17 crore. “Looking at the sharp contrast between personal wealth and state development, it is clear that “Vikas” is only for BJP. Is this the ‘development’ promised by the double engine BJP sarkar ?” Gogoi asked.
The ADR report revealed that Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu is the richest chief minister in India with assets worth over Rs 931 crore, followed by Arunachal Pradesh’s Pema Khandu with over Rs 332 crore, and Karnataka’s Siddaramaiah with more than Rs 51 crore.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has the lowest declared assets, worth Rs 15 lakh, while Jammu and Kashmir’s Omar Abdullah, with assets of Rs 55 lakh, is the second lowest. Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan is third on the list with declared assets worth Rs 1.18 crore.
Khandu has the highest liabilities among the chief ministers, totaling Rs 180 crore, followed by Siddaramaiah with Rs 23 crore and Naidu with Rs 10 crore.
The report also noted that the average asset per chief minister in India is Rs 52.59 crore. The total assets of the 31 chief ministers analyzed amount to Rs 1,630 crore. The average self-income of a chief minister is Rs 13.64 lakh, which is 7.3 times higher than India’s per capita net national income of Rs 1,85,854 for 2023-2024.
