Delhi polls: Majority of candidates are not even graduates, reveals survey
Among the 66 BJP candidates, 22 are graduates, 13 have not studied beyond Class 10 and only 18 are post graduates.
The education quotient of Delhi poll hopefuls has once again fallen short of expectations despite emphasis by political parties on improving the academic standard of the elected representatives.
A survey by Mail Today of candidates from the three major political parties revealed that most aspirants are only graduates.
Among the 66 BJP candidates, 22 are graduates, 13 have not studied beyond Class 10 and only 18 are post graduates. The analysis is based on affidavits furnished by the candidates to the election commission at the time of filing their nomination papers. One BJP candidate has studied only till Class 8, while six candidates have completed senior secondary.
The BJP candidate from Chhattarpur, Brahm Singh Tanwar, has not completed his studies after Class 9 while its Nangloi candidate Manoj Kumar Shokeen, who has studied till Class 10, has claimed he was awaiting his graduation results. Kulwant Singh Rana from Rithala completed his secondary school in 1987 but graduated in 2014.
"Some of the candidates have completed their graduation late as they wanted to contest in the elections. Completing education for them is no more a prestige issue," said a leader from the Congress.
Some of the candidates, however, stand out as they have reached impressive heights in their educational graph. For instance, former DUSU president Nupur Sharma, the BJP's face from New Delhi, is a Masters in Law from London School of Economics. Former Mayor Rajni Abbi, another BJP leader, holds an LLB degree from Delhi University.
The Congress' record is also nothing to feel proud about. The party has merely nine candidates who have completed post graduation. As many as 29 candidates are graduates and eight have studied till Class 12.
The Congress, however, boasts of two doctors - Dr A.K. Walia and Narendra Nath. President Pranab Mukherjee's daughter Sharmishtha Mukherjee has a Master's degree in sociology. But a big chunk of 20 candidates from the Congress are yet to complete their graduation.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has the largest number of post graduates at 21, while 24 candidates are graduates. Nine candidates have studied till Class 12 and five have studied only till Class 10.
Dr Atul Gupta from Vishwas Nagar, who is an MBBS, is the most educated candidate in AAP.