Arguing for incentivising the youth to bring them into politics, Aam Aadmi Party MP Raghav Chadha implored the government to bring down the minimum age to contest elections from 25 to 21 years.
He was speaking in the Rajya Sabha during Zero Hour. Mr. Chadha said India was one of the youngest countries but with an ageing political class. “The average age in India is 29. About 65% of our population is less than 35-years-old. And 50% of our population is 25 years and below,” the AAP MP said.
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But the age of our public representatives was growing older. “In the first Lok Sabha, you will be surprised to know 26% of the MPs were below 40 years of age. But in the 17th Lok Sabha, which concluded two and half months ago, only 12% of the members were below 40. We are a young country with old politicians,” Mr. Chadha said.
Mr. Chadha said politics had gained ill-repute and while younger generations aspire to be engineers and doctors, rarely did any one chose politics as their career. “I urge the government to reduce the minimum age to contest polls from 25 to 21 years. If an 18-year-old can cast the vote to decide the future of the country, then why can’t they contest elections at 21 years of age,” Mr. Chadha said.
