How educated are Tamil Nadu MLAs of 2021? Around 62% are graduates, 7 have PhDs

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) won the Tamil Nadu assembly election 2021 by a significant margin and reclaimed power in the southern state after spending a decade as the chief opposition party. According to statistics obtained from the affidavits and websites like www.myneta.info, the percentage of the winning candidates who are graduate or above is 61.96 per cent in Tamil Nadu. This is better as compared to the results of the 2016 assembly elections when among the winning candidates, a total of 122 netas (56%) were graduate or avoid.

A total of 90 winners are graduates with a college degree, 48 with postgraduate degrees, and seven who have a PhD. On the other hand, 26 winners out of the total of 234 seats in the state, did not pass Class X, 34 have completed high school while 29 have completed Class XII.

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Out of the total 234 candidates that the people of Tamil Nadu voted for, 32.9 per cent are agriculturists, while 70 (29.9%) run their own businesses. While 37 of the elected MLAs are just politicians or social workers, 20 are advocates, two are retired or working as teachers, two are unemployed and 28 have not mentioned what their profession is on their affidavits.

S Durai Murugan, DMK's general secretary since September 2020, a close confidant of both the Late K Karunanidhi as well as his son MK Stalin, is the oldest candidate (83 years) to win from the assembly constituency of Katpadi. One of DMK’s most experienced leaders, the 83-year old Durai Murugan who has been with the DMK since 1954, has held his home constituency Katpadi's seat for the last five terms. The youngest candidate to win this election was Amv Prabhakara Raja, who is a DMK candidate from the Virugampakkam constituency. He has completed his post-graduation and is 32 years old.

DMK Chief MK Stalin was sworn in as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on May 7. Considering the Coronavirus pandemic, the swearing-in ceremony of the new government led by his party was simple, Stalin.

The DMK led by Stalin won the TN assembly elections 2021 by winning 133 of the 234 assembly seats that went to the polls this year. While the Indian National Congress (INC) won 14 seats, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) managed to get four, Pattali Makkal Katchi won five, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi- 4, Communist Party of India (Marxist)- 2 and Communist Party of India- 2.