Lagatar24 Desk
Lucknow, Feb 5: The polls reform advocacy group Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) has revealed that 125 of the candidates in the first phase of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections are educated up to Class 8, while 15 have proclaimed themselves illiterate.
According to the ADR, there are more than 70 candidates in the race who are over 60 years old.
The ADR said it examined self-sworn affidavits of 615 candidates from various political parties and independent nominees for 58 assembly seats in 11 districts of Uttar Pradesh where polls are slated for 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.
According to the report, 239 (39%) of candidates stated their educational qualifications to be between Class 5 and 12, while 304 (49%) declared a graduate or higher educational qualification.
In terms of age, 214 (35%) candidates indicated themselves to be between the ages of 25 and 40, while 328 (53%) declared themselves to be between the ages of 41 and 60.
It was found that 73 (12%) of the candidates have reported their age to be between 61 and 80 years old.
Agra, Aligarh, Baghpat, Bulandshahr, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Ghaziabad, Hapur, Mathura, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, and Shamli are among the 58 assembly constituencies that will vote in the first phase.
Election results will be declared on March 10.
