Education A Fetish With BJP Leaders? Queen Oja ‘Fudges’ Education Details in Poll Affidavit

GUWAHATI: Gauhati Constituency BJP candidate Queen Oja re-submitted her affidavit after controversy erupted over her education qualifications.

Independent candidate and Supreme Court advocate Upamanyu Hazarika lodged complaint against Oja and demanded that her nomination be rejected for submitting wrong facts.

Oja had claimed her educational qualification as Higher Secondary from state-run Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open University (KKHSOU) whereas the university doesn’t offer such a course. Oja said that it happened due to some mistake.

“During the scrutiny of nomination papers, I have registered my complaint to the returning officer against Queen Oja. Oja has falsified her educational qualification as stated in the nomination form by Oja on her own admission. She has filed two affidavits notarized on the same day. On this ground I have filed a notarized affidavit objecting the candidature of Queen Oja,” Hazarika said.

In one affidavit Oja she has stated that in the year 2011 she passed her Higher Secondary examination from KKHSOU and in the other affidavit she has passed her Bachelors Preparatory Programme (BPP) in 2012 from KKHSOU.

“Same day two affidavits and on the same subject how can there be two different versions of educational qualification? Either one of the two has to be correct and not both... And this is a false statement under Sec 125 A of Representation of People's Act 1951 is an election offence for which the Returning Officer must reject her candidature nomination and this is a demand registered by me,” Hazarika demanded.

The KKHSOU authorities have categorically stated that they did not have such course (HS) or an equivalent certificate course at their institute.

In her defence, the 67-year old politician said that it was done mistakenly.

“After having come back from election campaign I have found some mistakes have been made inadvertently in the affidavit for which on the very same day I have prepared one more affidavit in the afternoon with actual facts. But at the time of filing nomination papers my proposed election agent Rajdeep Oja annexed the incorrect affidavit which were prepared earlier as mentioned above and the correct affidavit which was prepared in the afternoon of March 30 was not annexed,” is Oja’s slightly garbled explanation.

When the Congress candidate Bobbeeta Sharma and others slammed the BJP candidate for wrong information about her educational qualification, Oja said that to serve the people, one doesn’t need any educational qualification.

“I just want to tell you that to serve the people, I don’t need educational qualification. I have been in politics for quite some time and I know how to serve the people,” Oja added.

Gauhati constituency goes to polls on April 23.