Congress leader and Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi, launched a scathing attack on Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday, January 2, 2025, after a report ranked Sarma among the wealthiest Chief Ministers in India.

Speaking on the matter, Gaurav Gogoi said, "Chief Minister Sarma promised that Assam would rank among the top five States in terms of development, but ironically, he seems to be nearing the top five in terms of wealth among Chief Ministers."

The rankings, published by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) on Monday, December 30, 2024, reveal that the Assam Chief Minister is the seventh richest Chief Minister in India, with declared assets worth approximately Rs 17 crore.

In a post on the social media platform ‘X’, Gaurav Gogoi criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, stating, "BJP Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma vowed to place Assam among India’s top five States in development. Instead, he is inching towards becoming one of the top five richest Chief Ministers in the country."

The Jorhat Lok Sabha MP also highlighted the disparity between wealth and development in the northeast, noting that four National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Chief Ministers from the region feature in the ADR's top 10 wealthiest list.

However, their respective States perform poorly in the Human Development Index (HDI) rankings.

"Chief Minister Sarma is ranked seventh richest, while Assam languishes at 31st on the UNDP HDI index. This stark contrast between personal wealth and State development underscores that 'Vikas' [development] is reserved only for the BJP," Gogoi asserted.

"Is this the 'double engine' development the BJP promised?" he further questioned.

The ADR report identifies Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu as the wealthiest Chief Minister in the country, with declared assets exceeding Rs 931 crore.

At the other end of the spectrum, West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee is the least wealthy, with assets of just Rs 15 lakh.

Arunachal Pradesh’s Pema Khandu ranks second with assets worth Rs 332 crore, while Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah holds the third position with Rs 51 crore in assets.

Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah ranks as the second least wealthy with assets worth Rs 55 lakh, followed by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at Rs 1.18 crore.

The report also notes that Arunachal Chief Pema Khandu bears the highest liabilities at Rs 180 crore, followed by Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah at Rs 23 crore and Andhra Pradesh chief minister at Rs 10 crore.

Across the nation, the average asset value per Chief Minister is Rs 52.59 crore, while the combined wealth of 31 Chief Ministers totals Rs 1,630 crore.

The ADR findings highlight a significant contrast between the wealth of these leaders and the average citizen.

While India’s per capita net national income (NNI) stood at Rs 1,85,854 for 2023-2024, the average declared self-income of a Chief Minister is Rs 13,64,310—nearly 7.3 times higher than the national average.

The report’s revelations have reignited debate over the BJP’s governance model, with opposition leaders questioning the disparity between promises of development and the reality of wealth accumulation among political leaders.

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