UP polls phase I: 15 illiterate candidates, 125 educated till Class 8

Noida, Feb 05: Among the candidates in fray for the first phase of Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, 125 are educated up till Class 8, while 15 have declared themselves to be “illiterate”, according to polls reform advocacy group ADR. The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) also noted that there are more than 70 candidates in the fray who are aged above 60 years.

The ADR said it has analysed self-sworn affidavits of 615 candidates across political parties and independent nominees from the 58 assembly seats in 11 districts of UP where elections are scheduled on February 10.

According to their data, 15 candidates are 'illiterate', 38 'literate', 10 have passed Class 5, 62 have passed Class 8, 65 have cleared Class 10, and 102 have cleared Class 12. There are 100 'graduate' candidates, 78 'graduate professionals', 108 'post graduate', 18 'doctorate', and seven 'diploma' holders, while 12 have not presented their education details, the ADR noted.

It said 239 (39 per cent) candidates have declared their educational qualifications to be between Class 5 and 12, while 304 (49 per cent) have declared having an educational qualification of graduate or above. In terms of age, 214 (35 per cent) candidates have declared their age to be between 25 and 40 years, and 328 (53 per cent) have declared it between 41 to 60 years.

There are 73 (12 per cent) candidates who have declared their age to be between 61 to 80 years, it noted. The 58 assembly constituencies going to polls during the first phase are in the districts of Agra, Aligarh, Baghpat, Bulandshahr, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Ghaziabad, Hapur, Mathura, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, and Shamli. Election results will be declared on March 10.