Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Raghav Chadha on Thursday called for reducing the minimum age for contesting elections in India from 25 to 21 years to boost youth participation in politics.
Raising the issue in the Rajya Sabha, Chadha said, “India is one of the youngest countries in the world. Sixty-five per cent of our population is below 35 years of age, and more than 50 per cent is below 25 years. But are our elected representatives as young?”
Claiming that 26 per cent of the members in the first Lok Sabha (1952) were below 40 years of age, while only 12 per cent of the 17th Lok Sabha (dissolved on June 16) fell into that age group, he said, “We are a young country with old politicians; we must aspire to become a young country with young politicians.”
Chadha asserted that this is happening because politics is considered a “bad” profession.
“So, I feel that today we need to incentivise the youth to encourage their participation in mainstream politics of India,” he said.
Urging the government to increase youth participation in politics, Chadha said, “I would like to request the government to reduce the age limit from 25 to 21 years. If a 21-year-old youth wants to join mainstream politics and contest elections, he should be allowed to do so.”
“When the youth of the country can vote at the age of 18 and choose their government, they should certainly be able to contest elections at the age of 21,” he added.