Young leaders demand change in political order, by infusing young blood to meet the rising aspirations of youth

Hyderabad, July , 2018: A Round Table on ‘Youth participation in main stream politics’ was organised to sensitise the political parties on need to infuse young blood in our political arena, ahead of the 2019 elections, on Monday at Press Club, Somajiguda. Pilot Rohit Reddy, President, Young Leaders; convened the meeting and was attended by youth from across the political spectrum representing the student and youth wings of most major political parties.

Over sixty young leaders came on a single platform and articulated their opinion on the occasion. Mr Naveen Yadav, Mr Ravi Yadav, Mr Kaushik Manne, Mr Veerender Goud, Mrs Vijaya Reddy, Mrs Rachana Reddy, Mr Adbul Kaleel Irfan, Mr Feroz Khan, Mr Balvindernath, Mr Saleem Pasha, Mr Manvatha Rai, Ms Bala Lakshmi, Mr Raghu Veer, Mr Daruvu Yellanna, Mr Aravind Kumar, Mr Jaipal Reddy, were amongst those present. They voiced in unison the need to make space for youth and enhance the youth representation in the legislative bodies.

The forum reasoned that India being a young country with youth constituting more than 65% of the population, is being deprived of representation from this segment in the legislative bodies and policy making in the country. The average age of Indian population is 29 years, while the members of parliament representing them have an average age of 53.03 year and even Telangana Assembly doesn’t lag behind. The representation of youth in Lok Sabha is less than a third, at 28%.

World over youth are the harbingers of change, making an indelible mark by leapfrogging the tough challenges human racing is facing with innovative and practical solutions. Thus, the youth is in the forefront in changing the world order, well beyond ones imagination, in the days to come.

The irony is that intellectual class including the civil servants, judges, doctors, engineers, technocrats, scientists and professionals of all ilk’s in our country are made to retire from their active professional life at certain age, by this very political system, but when it comes to themselves they have a different yardstick and believe in eternally dominating the political space.

Youth is the backbone of all political parties, they are the ones who reach out to the voters, mobilise their opinion and ensure the success of the party. But when it comes to their share in shaping the country’s future, they find themselves relegated. With the growing disillusionment amongst the youth against the current state of affairs and the rising number of young voters ready to exercise franchise, a silent revolution is taking place. To meet their rising aspirations the youth desires change, with old order being replaced and the youth catapulted to political prominence. A definite indicator to this is the recent election in Gujarat, where some young leaders were elected to assembly, despite the Modi wave.

To size up to the changing order and reach our message to the political fraternity, the Round-table has put forth the following demands

1. 50% reservation to youth (below the age of 45 years) in all Constitutionally elected positions i.e., Panchayath to Parliament, irrespective of caste, gender or community.
2. Bar on contesting in all Constitutionally elected positions i.e., Panchayath to Parliament once a person reaches the age of 65 years.
3. Bar on holding Constitutionally elected positions i.e., Panchayath to Parliament for more than 2 terms either consecutively or cumulatively.