Despite common assumptions about the similarity of profiles of Indian state chiefs, especially given the dominance of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the center and in most states, reports from the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) demonstrate greater variability. State chiefs come from different social strata, age groups, educational and economic categories, even within the same party.
Comparing the ADR reports for 2025 and 2026 proved more indicative than each report individually. The 2025 study covered 30 state chiefs because Manipur was under presidential rule. The 2026 report includes 31 state chiefs after the return of the chief in that region. A significant change was that the cabinet ministers changed in the states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Bihar, and West Bengal.
The South defines the wealth picture
The total assets of Indian state chiefs increased from 1,632 crore rupees in the 2025 report to 3,660 crore rupees in 2026. The average asset size more than doubled—from 54.42 crore to 118.07 crore rupees. The number of billionaire state chiefs rose from two to four.
In 2025, the only billionaire state chiefs were N Chandrababu Naidu with assets of 931.84 crore rupees and Pema Khandu with 332.57 crore rupees. Siddaramaiah ranked a distant third with 51.94 crore rupees. A year later, Karnataka's Chief Minister D K Shivakumar is the clear leader with 1,413.8 crore rupees, and Tamil Nadu's film star and Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay declared assets of 648.86 crore rupees. Together these four account for approximately 3,327 crore rupees, or 90.9% of all declared assets of the 31 state chiefs. The remaining 27 state chiefs have only about 333 crore rupees among them.
Geographical analysis further emphasizes this imbalance. Using a broad four-zone grouping (not the ADR classification), the South represents only six out of 31 state chiefs but accounts for approximately 3,059 crore rupees, which is about 83.6% of all declared assets of state chiefs in 2026. This is because three of the four billionaire state chiefs—Shivakumar, Naidu, and Vijay—are from southern states. Thus, the South in a sense justifies the image of big personalities among state chiefs. Naidu is an experienced politician who has survived many ups and downs to restore lost glory. D K Shivakumar finally received recognition after a power struggle with Siddaramaiah, and Vijay became a newcomer who broke through the binary of DMK-AIADMK, while also being a film star who became the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. The profiles of these billionaire state chiefs can be maximally different.
East and Northeast together have the highest number of state chiefs in this group—12, but they account for only about 495 crore rupees, largely due to Khandu's report. North and Central India together have 10 state chiefs, but only about 75 crore rupees in declared assets, while the West has three state chiefs and about 31 crore rupees.
One party, different worlds
The situation by party is equally uneven. The BJP has 17 state chiefs in the 2026 list, but they do not represent a single economic bloc. The richest BJP state chief is Pema Khandu with declared assets of 332.57 crore rupees. The poorest is West Bengal's Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, with approximately 85.88 lakh rupees. This is a nearly 387-fold gap within one party.
The Congress range is smaller in number but sharper in scale. Of the four Congress state chiefs, only Shivakumar accounts for 1,413.8 crore rupees. At the opposite end is Kerala's Chief Minister V D Satheesan with 6.66 crore rupees. Revant Reddy with 30.05 crore rupees and Himachal Pradesh's Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh with 7.82 crore rupees significantly lag behind Shivakumar's level. In fact, the profile of assets of Congress state chiefs is overwhelmingly shaped by one leader.
This is why the average value can be misleading. The calculation based on individual records shows a median of only about 8.23 crore rupees for 2026, which is barely higher than the 2025 median of 8.02 crore rupees.
Total declared liabilities increased from about 242 crore rupees in 2025 to almost 505 crore rupees in 2026, although the number of state chiefs declaring liabilities of 1 crore rupees or more remained unchanged—11. In 2025, Khandu topped the liability list with 180.28 crore rupees. In 2026, Shivakumar took the first place with 265.07 crore rupees, followed by Khandu and Himanta Biswa Sarma.
Young leaders, uneven party trend
The leadership profile has also become younger. In 2025, 12 out of 30 state chiefs were in the 51–60 age group. By 2026, this number increased to 17. The number of people aged 61 and above decreased from 10 to six. The 41–50 age category remained unchanged—eight people.
The average declared age decreased from 58.8 to 56.7 years, although the median remained at 56. This shift reflects the departure of several older state chiefs, including Siddaramaiah, Pinarayee Vijayan, Nitish Kumar, M K Stalin, and Mamata Banerjee. Age is stated at the time of filing affidavits for elections, not necessarily the current age. Therefore, the actual decrease is much sharper, as the 2025 calculation included affidavits of many outgoing state chiefs from 2021.
Here too, parties differ internally. Four Congress state chiefs are closely grouped. Revant Reddy is 56 years old, Sukhvinder Singh is 58 years old, Shivakumar is 60 years old, and Satheesan is 61 years old. The BJP range is wider. It includes Pema Khandu at 44 years old and Manika Sahu at 70 years old, with several state chiefs concentrated in their fifties. In other words, the cohort of Congress state chiefs is smaller and older on average, while the larger BJP pool ranges from young leadership to old veterans.
There has been a shift in gender ratio. In the 2025 report, two female representatives were listed among the 30 state chiefs. In the 2026 report, only one is listed among the 31 state chiefs. Mamata Banerjee's departure from the list of state chiefs left Rekha Gupta from Delhi as the only woman in the group.
Education remains generally stable
Many politicians are products of student politics. They may not have worked professionally, but they still believed in the internal importance of formal education. In 2025, 25 out of 30 state chiefs had higher education, professional higher education, a master's degree, or a doctorate. In 2026, this number remained the same—25, despite the increase in the group. The proportion of people with a bachelor's degree or higher slightly decreased—from about 83% to 81%.
Within parties, the BJP demonstrates the widest educational spectrum. Its list of state chiefs includes holders of doctorates, such as Mohan Yadav, Himanta Biswa Sarma, and Samrat Chaudhary, but also leaders listed as 10th-grade graduates, diploma holders, bachelors, professional masters, and masters. The four Congress state chiefs are more compact in terms of education: Shivakumar and Sukhvinder Singh are masters, Revant Reddy is a bachelor, and Satheesan is a professional bachelor.
Increase in cases, but concentration in five names
Criminal case numbers have slightly worsened. In 2025, 12 out of 30 state chiefs, or 40%, reported having criminal cases; 10 had cases classified by ADR as serious. By 2026, 14 out of 31, or 45%, reported having criminal cases; 11 had serious cases.
The total number of reported cases increased from 187 to 195. The burden remained concentrated. Revant Reddy continued to lead the list with 89 cases, followed by Suvendu Adhikari with 29, Shivakumar and Naidu with 19 cases each, and V D Satheesan from Kerala with 18 cases. Five state chiefs accounted for 174 out of 195 cases, or 89.2%.
Criminal cases against state chiefs. Three of the four Congress state chiefs are in the top five for reported cases: Revant Reddy, Shivakumar, and Satheesan. Among BJP state chiefs, Adhikari carries the highest load of reported cases, while several BJP state chiefs have no reported criminal cases. Geography shows a similar concentration, albeit for different reasons. Six southern state chiefs together account for 147 reported cases, mainly driven by Revant Reddy, Shivakumar, Naidu, and Satheesan. East and Northeast account for 38 cases, led by Adhikari. North and Central India account for six, and the West for four.
It may not be a coincidence that many state chiefs with a high caseload were long-time opposition leaders. Thus, criminal cases should be viewed cautiously. A low number of cases may not strictly be a virtue; it may simply be a result of friendly police administration. Disclosures are not the only way to understand the nature of a politician. But it is an important starting point, especially when comparing year by year, to understand how the locus of power remains the same, but the nature of those who hold it changes, perhaps as an inevitable reflection of the realities of the time.
