In Parliament on Thursday, AAP MP Raghav Chadha made a strong argument for lowering the current 25-year-old minimum age for contesting elections. He noted that India has one of the youngest average ages of populations in the world and that it should have representation that mirrors that.
In support of lowering the age to 21, Mr. Chadha stated in the Rajya Sabha, “We are a young country with old politicians, we must aspire to be a young country with young politicians.”
As the 35-year got up to speak on the issue, there was also banter between him and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, who asked the AAP MP in jest whether he wanted to enter Parliament at an even younger age.
With a laugh, Mr Chadha replied. “I’ll tell you, sir. The issue is close to my heart… India, with an average age of 29 years, is one of the youngest countries in the world. In our country, 65% of the population is less than 35 years old and over 50% is less than 25 years old. But are our politicians and elected representatives as young?
“You will be surprised to know that, in the first Lok Sabha, 26% of the people were less than 40 years old and the just-dissolved 17th Lok Sabha had only 12% people in that age group. So, as the country is getting younger, our elected representatives are getting older,” he added.
Laying out a possible reason for this, the AAP MP said this is because politics is considered to be a “bad profession”. When parents think of professions for their children, he said, they want them to be doctors, engineers, sportspersons, scientists and chartered accountants, but not politicians.
“We have to incentivize the youth to join mainstream politics. The minimum age for contesting Lok Sabha and Assembly elections is 25 and, through you, I would request the government to reduce that to 21… When a person can vote at the age of 18, pick the government and play a role in deciding the future of the country, why can’t he contest elections at the age of 21,” he asked.
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