Our Unrepresentative People’s Representatives

Sudhanshu Kaushik & Shreyash Sharma
Jul 27, 2025 | 20:52 IST

Parliament and assemblies won’t reflect India’s young majority if political parties remain gated clubs. Start by reserving at least 15-20% of election tickets for candidates under 30



India is the world’s youngest democracy — and yet, its politics remains stubbornly gerontocratic. This wasn’t always the case. The first Lok Sabha had nearly 26% of its members under 30, almost half were below 45. Since then, however, we’ve witnessed a steady decline in youth representation.
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