UP polls: 114 candidates 8th pass, 12 illiterate in 2nd phase

Noida: In the second phase of Uttar Pradesh elections, 114 contesting candidates are educated only up to Class 8, and 12 have submitted that they are illiterate, PTI reported, citing an analysis report.

Further, 102 postgraduates and six PhD holders are there among the candidates, a report by the polls reforms advocacy groups Uttar Pradesh Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) found.

The report says that 12 candidates are illiterate, 67 literate while 12 passed Class 5 and 35 had passed Class 8. 58 candidates have passed Class 10, and 88 have passed Class 12. Also, it listed that 108 are graduates, 89 'graduate professionals', 102 postgraduates, six have doctorate degrees, and five have diplomas.

Later, the analysis went into age groups. There are 56 candidates between 25 and 30 years, 150 contestants between 31 and 40 years, 179 candidates between 41 and 50 years, 130 candidates between 51 and 60 years. Between 61 and 70 years of age, there are 62 candidates, while six were between 71 and 80 years of age. Finally, one candidate is between 81 to 90 years of age, the reports said.

The analysis report was based on the self-sworn affidavits of 584 candidates out of 586. The two candidates left had not submitted legible affidavits. Out of the 586 candidates, 515 or 88.2 per cent are men, and only 69 or 1.8 per cent are women, it added.

The second phase of voting is scheduled for February 14 for 15 assembly seats across the nine districts of Amroha, Barielly, Bijnor, Budaun, Moradabad, Rampur, Saharanpur, Sambhal and Shajahanpur in western Uttar Pradesh.

UP elections are held in seven phases, and the first phase was done on Thursday. The Election Commission had informed that there was a 60.17 per cent voter turnout. Counting is scheduled for March 10.