No Political Country For Young People

While 67 per cent of India's population is 39 years old or younger, states are governed by chief ministers who are 70 or older.

IMAGE: Bharatiya Janata Party leader Vishnu Deo Sai, 59, takes oath as Chhattisgarh's chief minister in Raipur. Photograph: ANI Photo

Sparta, the militarised city-state of ancient Greece, was run by a board of elites who were 60 or older.

It's the old, or not so-young, who hold the levers of political power now too: India is an example.

Legislators aged 25 to 40 comprise less than 15 per cent of the newly elected assemblies of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, and Mizoram.

Legislators who are 41 or older are more than 85 per cent of each of the five assemblies.

In Meghalaya, 28 per cent of the legislators are 25 to 40 years old: The youngest state assembly by that age group, according to data provided by the independent group PRS Legislative Research (PRS).

Delhi's assembly comes next with 23 per cent legislators in that age group. In 26 other states, more than 80 per cent of legislators are 41 or older.

In Tamil Nadu and Telangana assemblies, 6 per cent of the legislators are 25 to 40 years old.

The analysis studied the last elections in 28 states and Delhi as seen in chart 1.

While 67 per cent of India's population is 39 years old or younger, states are governed by chief ministers who are 70 or older.

Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma is 73, one year older than the life expectancy in most North East Indian states (excluding Assam).

More than a quarter of chief ministers have crossed the average life expectancy in their states.

Kerala has the highest life expectancy in the country, of 74 years, and the median age there is 35. Its chief minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, is 78 and the oldest to hold such a post in India.

The median age in India is 28 years. Bihar, Haryana, Karnataka and Kerala have chief ministers who have exceeded the life expectancy of their constituents. (Chart 2)

Parliament is not too young either. When the present 17th Lok Sabha was formed in 2019, just 12 per cent of its members were aged 25 to 40.

In the first Lok Sabha in 1952, that age cohort was 26 per cent. The average age of MPs in the present Lok Sabha is 54.

As of December 2023, members who are 40 or younger comprised 10.7 per cent of the Lok Sabha. That percentage is smaller compared to other major countries, according to data from the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).

In the UK's House of Commons, 21.7 per cent of the members are 40 years old or younger.

In the House of Representatives of the United States, that age group is 10.4 per cent. (Chart 3)