Reduce minimum age to contest elections to 21 years: Raghav Chadha

Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha on Thursday, 1 August, made a strong case for reducing the minimum age for contesting elections in India to 21 years from the current 25 years.

Raising the issue during the Zero Hour in the Upper House, the MP of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) highlighted that India is one of the youngest countries in the world, with an average age of 29 years.

He said 65 per cent of India's population is below the age of 35 years and more than 50 per cent under 25 years.

Chadha said that 29 per cent of the people elected to the first Lok Sabha were below the age of 40 years. In the last Lok Sabha (17th), only 12 per cent of MPs were under 40 years.

"We are a young country with old politicians. We must aspire to become a young country with young politicians," he said.

He further said that in India, politics is considered a bad profession.

Parents want their children to become doctors, engineers, chartered accountants, and scientists, but not politicians, the Rajya Sabha member said.

"We need to incentivise youth so that they enter mainline politics in India," he said.

He urged the government to reduce the minimum age to contest elections in India to 21 years from 25 years.