Nine postgrads, PhDs, foreign educated first-timers slug it out in Haryana poll arena

: In the Haryana assembly polls that goes for voting on October 5, there are nine new faces from major political parties who are either foreign educated, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) or postgraduates from Indian universities, an analysis of their nomination papers reveal.
Youngest among all, 25-year-old Aditya Surjewala is a third-generation political aspirant. He is the son of Congress Rajya Sabha MP Randeep Surjewala.
A BCom from University of British Columbia, he is the Congress candidate from Kaithal, a seat his father and earlier grandfather Shamsher Singh Surjewala represented in the Vidhan Sabha.
Aditya said being well-read gives them an upper hand that they can’t be fooled by anyone.
“It does not matter if you’ve foreign degrees but being educated from good universities in the country itself gives you a different perspective that could bring about a positive change. There is no doubt that experience also matters, but having prior knowledge of subject matter helps and we can’t be fooled,” he said.
Aditya’s counterpart in Gurugram from the same party, Mohit Grover holds a PG degree in Management from International Management Institute, Brussels, Belgium.
Another young gun from the Congress, Rohit Nagar (30), fielded by the party from Tigaon seat in Faridabad, has studied Bachelor of Science in Business Management Studies from the University of Bradford, England.
Contesting from Dadri seat as a Congress candidate, Manisha Sangwan is a Ph.D from Maharishi Dayanand University (MDU), Rohtak. She has also done her MA and BA from Delhi University.
From Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) that is making its presence felt in the elections, its senior vice-president of the state unit, Anurag Dhanda is contesting his first election from Kalayat seat of Kaithal.
A former journalist, he is a double MA holding degrees in political science and mass communication from Haryana universities.
Thirty-year-old Yogesh of the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) is another mass communication degree holder. He has done M.Sc in the field from Guru Jambeshwar University of Science and Technology, Hisar. He is contesting from Narnaund seat against the richest candidate in the fray this time, BJP’s Captain Abhimanyu.
Student leader Pradeep Narwal, who is the Congress candidate from Bhawani Khera seat, has done MA in medieval history from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).
Similarly, Manju Hooda, who is contesting against former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda from Garhi-Sampla-Kiloi is also an MA from MDU, Rohtak.
The oldest among all as a first-timer, Dr Krishan Kumar (55) from the BJP, took retirement as director health services (DHS) to contest elections from the Bawal seat. He is a Master of Surgery (ENT) from MDU, Rohtak, and held charges of civil surgeon in various districts.
New faces from the Congress like Pooja Chaudhary (Mullana), Sachin Kundu (Panipat City) and Parag Sharma (Ballabhgarh) are undergraduate in law from various Indian universities.
Balram Sharma, Head of the Department, political science, DAV College in Karnal, believes that having better educational qualification help the candidate keep the major issues before the public and similarly points of public importance before the officials as well as in the legislative assemblies.
“Though our Constitution allows candidates from any educational background to contest, the amendment in the panchayati raj making this mandatory has brought a positive change in our villages. They are no less than towns now and the political consciousness among the voters has also increased to choose educated candidate,” he added.