In the Association for Democratic Reforms’ (ADR) 2024 comparison, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had the highest declared assets among the chief ministers assessed, while West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had the lowest. The ranking compares self-sworn election-affidavit figures—not independently audited or same-date estimates of each chief minister’s personal wealth—and includes spouses and dependents.
What the ADR ranking says
ADR and National Election Watch based their 2024 comparison on affidavits filed before each chief minister’s previous assembly election. The figures therefore come from different disclosure dates. Reporting on the comparison described Naidu’s declared assets as more than ₹931 crore and Banerjee’s as about ₹15 lakh; those are rounded headline figures, not a synchronized valuation. India Today’s report on the 2024 ADR analysis covers the ranking.
“Richest” and “poorest” in this context mean the highest and lowest reported asset totals within ADR’s comparison. Because the totals include spouses and dependents, they should not be read as amounts owned personally by Naidu or Banerjee alone.
How to interpret the figures
They are declarations, not audited valuations
The underlying numbers come from self-sworn election affidavits. They describe what candidates declared for the relevant election; they are not an independent audit, a real-time valuation, or a complete estimate of wealth. The filings also predate the comparison by different periods, so changes after each election may not be reflected. ADR’s 2024 analysis sets out the report’s scope.
#1 Best Overall
Family totals and personal holdings are not interchangeable
Since spouses and dependents are included in the reported totals, a household or family figure cannot automatically be attributed to the chief minister as an individual. A like-for-like comparison should specify whose assets are counted and distinguish personal holdings from those of family members.
Assets are not net worth
Gross declared assets do not subtract liabilities. ADR’s later comparison reports liabilities separately, so an asset total alone should not be labeled “net worth.” Movable assets, immovable assets, and liabilities are separate disclosure categories, not interchangeable measures of financial position.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What later disclosures change—and what they do not establish
A 2025 update to ADR’s comparison again placed Naidu first and Banerjee last among the 30 chief ministers it covered. As summarized by ThePrint, it reported combined declared assets of more than ₹931 crore for Naidu and his spouse, more than ₹332 crore for Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu, and more than ₹51 crore for Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. ThePrint’s summary of the later ADR comparison provides those figures.
In September 2026, an ADR item reported Banerjee’s newer affidavit at ₹15.4 lakh. That is a newer disclosure for Banerjee, not a matched comparison: the sources available for this article do not establish a comparable newer Naidu figure. It therefore cannot, by itself, confirm a current ranking using both leaders’ latest filings. ADR’s 2026 item on Banerjee’s affidavit is the source for that reported amount.
Quick Recap
Rank #4
What the headline does not mean
- It does not establish either chief minister’s independently verified or current personal wealth.
- It does not compare everyone’s assets at one common date.
- It does not mean an asset total is the same as net worth after liabilities.
- It does not make other measures in ADR’s report—such as education or declared criminal cases—measures of wealth.
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