Lower minimum age for contesting LS, assembly polls, demands Jayant

LUCKNOW: Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) national vice-president Jayant Chaudhary has demanded the minimum age for contesting Lok Sabha or Vidhan Sabha election be lowered from 25 to 21 years to increase the number of younger lawmakers.

Mooting the proposal in this regard at ‘Yuva Adhikar Sammelan’ in Delhi on Wednesday, he said India was a young country where 65% of the population was below 35 years but the Lok Sabha constituted in 2014 happened to be the oldest-ever with very few members between 25 and 45 years of age.

“The 25-year condition for contesting Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha election is beyond comprehension when we see that the (minimum) age fixed for panchayat and urban local body polls is 21 years,” he said.

Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) spokesman Anil Dubey said parties that participated in the programme unanimously adopted the suggestion and passed a resolution, demanding lowering of the age for contesting Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha polls from the present 25 to 21 years to allow more and more youths to get elected to these bodies.

“The leaders who participated in the RLD function included (Loktantrik Janata Dal chief) Sharad Yadav, (CP(I)M general secretary) Sitaram Yechuri, Ahmad Patel (Congress), Majid Menon (NCP), Sanjay Singh (AAP), Patidar leader Hardik Patel, Naeemul Haq, Ghanshyam Tiwari among others,” Anil Dubey said.