India is young, its leaders aren't

India Today’s Data Intelligence Unit (DIU) has found that for the last 20 years, the average age of Lok Sabha MPs has always been above 50. The same holds true for the 17th Lok Sabha.

Listen to Story

Advertisement
India is young, its leaders aren't
During campaigning in the recently-concluded Lok Sabha elections, every political party aggressively wooed the younger generation. (PTI photo)

With more than 65 per cent of its population below 35 and with an average age of less than 29, it is for a reason that India is called a young country. However, if we are to look at the composition of our elected MPs, experience inarguably wins over youth.

During campaigning in the recently-concluded Lok Sabha elections, every political party aggressively wooed the younger generation, promising employment opportunities and announcing catchy sops. The story is pretty much the same during every election.

advertisement

But upon analysing the demography of our Lok Sabha MPs since 1999, India Today’s Data Intelligence Unit (DIU) has found that for the last 20 years, the average age of Lok Sabha MPs has always been above 50.

DIU compared the demography of India with that of the newly elected 17th Lok Sabha and found that the difference is clear. India is getting younger, but its Parliament isn’t.

According to Census 2011, around 11 per cent of the Indian population comes in the age bracket of 25-30. In Lok Sabha 2019, hardly 1.5 per cent MPs came in this age group. The Census 2011 also tells us that more than 25 per cent of the Indian population came in the age bracket of 25-40; this group accounts for only 12 per cent in the 17th Lok Sabha.

As we go up the age pyramid, the percentage of Indian population decreases, but the percentage of MPs increases. The maximum MPs (16 per cent) come from the 51-55 age group.

Increasing number of older MPs

Not only is youth representation declining in Parliament, but the average age of MPs has also risen in the last 20 years.

The average age of MPs in 1999 (13th Lok Sabha) was 52. It remained pretty much the same in 2004. In 2009, the average age of the Lok Sabha rose to 54. In 2014, it reached its peak at 59. After being on the rise for three consecutive elections, the average age has come down to 55 years.

Congress is the Grand Old Party, literally

DIU had earlier found that most parties had fielded a lower number of young candidates in the Lok Sabha polls. BJP, which received a massive mandate, had the lowest percentage of young candidates hardly 8 per cent were below the age of 40. The average age of the candidates was also high at 55.

Interestingly, the second biggest party after BJP, the Indian National Congress, doesn’t have anything better to offer either. Analysing the data of Lok Sabha polls since 1999, DIU found that Congress has literally been the Grand Old Party’ of India.

advertisement

Since the 13th Lok Sabha (1999-2004), the average age of Congress MPs has always been higher than of BJP. In 1999, the average age of BJP MPs was 49.7 years, while Congress’ MPs was 54.8 years. In 2004, the average age of Congress MPs rose to 56 years; BJP’s rose to 51 years.

In 2009, the average age of Congress MPs decreased to 55.3 years, but BJP’s rose to 54 still below the Congress. In 2014, both BJP and Congress reached their peak average ages. While Congress MPs had an average age of 64, for BJP, it was 60. In 2019, the average age of both parties declined. While it stands at 57 for Congress, it is 55 for the BJP.