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From under matric to PhD-holders, all in fray for assembly seats in Ludhiana
One candidate, Jagmohan Sharma, who is fighting on a Bharatiya Janata Party-Punjab Lok Congress (BJP-PLC) ticket from Ludhiana East, has no educational records at all. In the affidavit submitted before the election commission Jagmohan Sharma has written ‘Nil’ against the column on educational qualification.
Of all the candidates who have filed nominations from Ludhiana for the upcoming state assembly elections, there are at least six candidates who have not even completed matriculation. One candidate, Jagmohan Sharma, who is fighting on a Bharatiya Janata Party-Punjab Lok Congress (BJP-PLC) ticket from Ludhiana East, has no educational records at all. In the affidavit submitted before the election commission Jagmohan Sharma has written ‘Nil’ against the column on educational qualification.
At least 10 candidates have mentioned that they have studied up till Class-12 and seven have completed matriculation. On the other hand, there are many who are highly qualified, in terms of education, and some of them have even pursued higher education from foreign institutes.
Under-matric
Prominent among those who have mentioned their qualification as under-matric (till or below Class 9) are Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s Ludhiana North candidate Madan Lal Bagga and BJP-PLC candidate from Atam Nagar Prem Mittal. On the Ludhiana central seat, three candidates, fielded by the mainstream parties, have not completed matriculation. They include AAP candidate Ashok Prashar Pappi (7th pass), BJP candidate Gurdev Sharma Debi and SAD candidate Pritpal Singh Pali (7th pass).
Matric-pass
Of the seven who have managed to still up till Class-10 are AAP’s Sahnewal candidate Hardeep Mundiyan, SAD candidate from Gill Darshan Singh Shivalik, SAD’s North candidate RD Sharma, Congress’ North seat candidate Rakesh Pandey, AAP candidate from East Daljit Singh alias Bhola Grewal, Congress candidate from Ludhiana central Surinder Dawar and AAP candidate from Samrala, Jagtar Singh Dyalpura.
Intermediate-level (Class-12)
Similarly, those who have completed intermediate-level education are Sanyukt Samaj Morcha chief Balbir Rajewal, AAP’s Raikot candidate Hakam Singh Thekedar, BJP-SAD (Sanyukt)’s candidate from Payal Harshit Kumar, BJP’s Khanna candidate Gurdeep Singh, AAP’s Khanna candidate Tarunpreet Singh Sondh, SAD’s Ludhiana South candidate and former cabinet minister Hira Singh Gabria, Congress’ Atam Nagar candidate Kamaljit Singh Karwal, SAD’s Dakha candidate Manpreet Ayali, BJP’s Jagraon candidate Kanwar Narinder Singh and Sanyukt Samaj Morcha (SSM) candidate Tarun Jain Bawa. Ayali and Kanwar Narinder have completed first year of BA. Rajewal, who is contesting from Samrala, has completed the first year of Bachelors of Science.
2 retired IAS officers, a PhD-holder & LLB graduates
Also in the fray are two IAS officers, a PhD-holder, 12 BA pass candidates, six advocates, one candidate who has completed Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) and four candidates who studied abroad.
In Gill constituency, two retired IAS officers -- sitting MLA and Congress candidate Kuldeep Vaid and BJP candidate SR Ladhar – will be taking on each other in the electoral arena.
AAP’s Dakha candidate KNS Kang has a PhD from Punjab Agricultural University (PAU).
SAD-BSP candidate from Payal, Jaspreet Singh has a BAMS degree.
Six advocates in fray include SAD (Sanyukt)’s Sahnewal nominee Harpreet Singh Garcha; SAD candidate from same segment former minister Sharanjit Singh Dhillon; SAD and AAP candidates from Atam Nagar constituency Harish Rai Dhanda and Kulwant Sidhu respectively. SAD and BJP’s candidates from Ludhiana West, Maheshinder Singh Grewal and Bikram Sidhu respectively, have also mentioned their qualification as LLB. Sidhu has also done M.Sc (Maths).
Congress’ Ludhiana South nominee Ishwarjot Cheema has done B-Tech in Mechanical Engineering and BJP candidate from the same seat, Satinderpal Tajpuri has done B.Com. Sitting MLA and Congress candidate from Payal, Lakhvir Lakha and his opponent AAP candidate Manwinder Gyaspura, have Masters degrees.
Foreign-educated candidates
The four candidates who have studied abroad are Congress’ Raikot candidate Kamil Amar Singh, who did an MBA from University of Cambridge, UK; Punjab Lok Congress (PLC) candidate from Dakha, Damanjit Singh Thind who has an MBA from University of Lincoln, UK; Congress Dakha’s candidate Captain Sandeep Sandhu, who has an advanced diploma of applied science (ship masters) from Australian Maritime College, University of Tasmania, Australia, and SAD-BSP candidate from Samrala, Paramjit Singh who has done his Masters of Arts (MA) in International Business from University of Greenwich (England).
Does educational qualification matter?
BJP-PLC candidate Jagmohan Sharma said he doesn’t have any records which is why he had to state his educational qualification as ‘Nil’. He says that in politics, what matters is experience.
“I have been in politics since 1972 and have served as the district president of Congress for 10 years. I may not have the educational qualification, but my vast experience helps me arrive at practical solutions for the public’s problems,” he says.
Retired IAS officer and Congress candidate from Gill constituency, Kuldeep Vaid, however, begs to differ. “Education is important. An educated person is aware of the norms and internal workings of the government and also in this day and age, it helps to be tech-savvy.”
Gursimran Kaur, a resident of Shastri Nagar, says, “No doubt that it is the political experience that matters, but education is crucial too. An educated person would be in a better position to understand the problems of the youth and also bring about change and development.”
