A report by the Association for Democratic Reforms poll has found that 42% of the ministers in PM Modi’s cabinet; 90% are crorepatis.
There were 78 ministers in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Union cabinet following the massive reshuffle earlier this week. The ADR is a poll rights group that often publishes reports ahead of elections, tallying affidavits to ascertain the criminal, financial, and other background details of politicians. On this occasion, it was found that at least 42% have declared criminal cases against them.
Of these, 24 ministers (31% of the total number of members) have declared ‘serious’ criminal cases against them — which includes counts of murder, attempt to murder, or robbery. Four of the ministers have murder cases against them.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi designated portfolios to the newly-inducted lawmakers shortly after their oath-taking ceremony earlier this week on Wednesday. A total of 15 ministers were inducted into the cabinet, while 28 lawmakers were given Union minister of state berths. Thereby, the total number of members in the Prime Minister’s council of ministers now stands at 78.
Interestingly, 90% of members of the new Union cabinet (70 ministers) are millionaires, i.e. they have declared total assets amounting to over ₹10 million (one crore), the ADR report showed. Four ministers – Jyotiraditya Scindia (over ₹379 crores), Piyush Goyal (over ₹95 crores), Narayan Rane (over ₹87 crores), and Rajeev Chandrasekhar (over ₹64 crores) — have been classified as ‘high asset ministers’, which means they have declared assets worth more than ₹50 crores.
The standard joke in India is “If you have a criminal record, just join the BJP and your sins will be washed away, whitewashed!”
Of note, in the USA and many other nations, no one can enter the cabinet if they have proven criminal pasts.
Indians are plunged into despair for the nation is submerged in a sea ruled by seemingly criminally-minded “pirates”. Is the government openly endorsing crime and corruption? If crime starts from the top with ministers with criminal pasts, the state in India would escalate into chaos and mayhem. One cannot expect good governance from such and nothing will change with the change of cabinet ministers.