A total of 44 per cent of the candidates, 299 in number belonging to three main political parties contesting in Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections have educational qualification of higher secondary or below while one illiterate candidate is also in the fray.
This was revealed today in an analysis of affidavits submitted by 683 candidates out of 2,583 contesting in 230 constituencies of the State. The analysis was conducted by the Madhya Pradesh Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). Affidavits were analysed only of candidates belonging to parties contesting in more than 200 constituencies. These include the BJP, the Congress and the BSP.
Besides, three affidavits could not be analysed properly due to missing papers or improper scanning. These include affidavits of state’s Commerce and Industry Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya (BJP), Uday Prakash Mishra (Congress) and Vijay Singh Chouhan (BSP). Of the 683 candidates analysed, a total of 377 nominees 55 per cent are graduates or possess higher degrees.
The lone illiterate candidate belongs to the BSP while two BSP candidates have not informed about their educational qualifications. The analysis revealed that 288 (42 pc) candidates are aged between 25-45 years, 364 (53 pc) between 46-65 years and 26 between 66-75 years while three nominees are above 76 years. Also, only 73 (11 pc) candidates are women including 23 fielded by the Congress, 28 by the BJP and 22 by the BSP. A total of 65 women had contested from the ticket of these parties in the 2008 Assembly elections.