"Young Country With Old Politicians": Raghav Chadha Makes Minimum Age Pitch

Mr Chadha said youth should be incentivised to join mainstream politics.

New Delhi:

Making a strong pitch for reducing the minimum age for contesting elections, which is currently 25, AAP MP Raghav Chadha said in Parliament on Thursday that India is one of the youngest countries in the world in terms of the average age of its population and deserves representation which reflects that.

“We are a young country with old politicians, we must aspire to be a young country with young politicians,” Mr Chadha said in the Rajya Sabha, advocating for the age to be reduced to 21. 

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 incentivise 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.