Criminal cases against three new Gujarat ministers: ADR

Three ministers in the newly-formed Gujarat government have criminal cases registered against them and 19 of them are 'crorepatis' (millionaires) while only one minister is a woman, said election watchdog Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

It also said nine ministers have declared their education qualification to be between Class 5 and Class 12 while nine are graduates or have higher degrees. One has a diploma in Electrical Engineering.

On Tuesday, Vijay Rupani was sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Gujarat for the second time along with 20 other ministers.

In its report prepared after studying the election affidavits of the new ministers, the ADR said Minister Parsotambhai Solanki has six criminal cases registered against him, of which three are serious in nature such as forgery and cheating.

The other two Ministers, Jayeshbhai Radadiya and Pradipsinh Jadeja, have two and one cases registered against them, respectively.

The ADR said the average assets of 20 ministers have been found to be Rs 13.34 crore and Saurabh Patel is the richest minister in the council, having declared property worth Rs 123.78 crore.

Solanki has declared total assets of over Rs 45 crore.

As per the report, three ministers have declared their age to be between 31 and 50 years while 17 are aged between 51 and 70.

--IANS

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