GUWAHATI: BJP's candidates for Assam announced so far may be a younger lot on average but the party apparently has made educational qualification a non-criteria while selecting its nominess for the Lok Sabha election.Among BJP's eight candidates, names of whom were announced on Thursday, two of them have studied till Class X. The party's lone woman candidate declared so far, Queen Oja, is an AGP turncoat. The 67-year-old former Guwahati mayor, in her last affidavit filed in 2011 when she had contested from Guwahati East assembly constituency, had declared her educational qualification as 'matriculation (SEBA) in 1968' from Panbazar Girls Higher School. She is contesting from the prestigious Guwahati constituency this time. Rameswar Teli (48), BJP's candidate for Dibrugrah who is eyeing his second straight term in the Lok Sabha, too, has declared in a 2014 affidavit that he 'completed the high school leaving certificate examination from Tipling Ghat High School in the year 1989.'When asked if the party has not given weightage to educational qualification before choosing a candidate, state BJP spokesperson Aparjita Bhuyan said, "The party looks into several factors - the winning chances of the candidate and his or her acceptance in the constituency. In case of Oja, she is one of the most experienced candidates and has a high degree of acceptability in Guwahati. She was the mayor of Guwahati and has done lot of good work. She is popular among the voters." On the brighter side, barring Oja, the other candidates finalized so far are within the age group of 43 and 53. They also have higher educational qualifications. BJP's new face for Silchar, Rajdeep Roy (48), is an orthopaedic surgeon. The party's another new face in the Lok Sabha, state power minister Topon Kumar Gogoi who is contesting the Jorhat constituency, is 50 years old. He has done his MA in sociology and is also an LLB. The party's 43-year-old candidate from Karimagnaj seat, Kripanath Malla, is an arts graduate. Pradan Baruah, another BJP sitting MP who is seeking his second victory from Lakhimpur constituency, is 53 years old. He has a diploma holder in mechanical engineering.In Assam, a general candidate should have passed pass Class 6 to contest polls for gaon panchayat member, Class 10 for contesting for gaon panchayat president and anchalik panchayat member posts and Class 12 for becoming a zila parishad member.

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