One of the loudest cries often heard in politicalgatherings all across the country is that the youth should play a more prominent role in politics and public administration.
But the fact is, despite the presence of youth wings of all major political parties, the presence (and the role) of youth in national politics is inadequate.
In the current Indian Parliament, which has an average age of 53 years, there are only 79 leaders who are under 42. Most of them are well-educated. Of these, most young leaders are those who have an influential political background to back them up. A few young Members of Parliament are ministers as well.
Britain, the country from which we derived much of our political framework, boasts of a 43-year-old PM in David Cameron. But back home, we have to make do with the likes of Manmohan Singh. Oldies like Sharad Pawar, S.M. Krishna, Karunanidhi, Pranab Mukherjee, L.K. Advani, Kapil Sibal, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee etc. dot the Indian political landscape.
Pakistan recently appointed a 34-year-old elegant and beautiful Hina Rabbani Khar as their foreign minister. In India, none of the young MPs have been considered good enough to head an important ministry and have always been appointed as junior ministers.
Let's take a look at 10 prominent young politicians of India many of whom are also ministers:
Agatha Sangma (born 24 July 1980)
Representing the Tura constituency of Meghalaya on the ticket of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Agatha Sangma is the youngest MP (and minister as well) in the Indian Parliament. The 30-year-old Minsiter of State for Rural Development is the daughter of P.A. Sangma, a prominent Indian leader and politician, and former speaker of the Lok Sabha. Sangma has a Masters degree in Environmental Management from Nottingham University, UK.
Jyotiraditya Scindia (born 1 January 1971)
The young scion of the Scindia family of Gwalior is a 40-year-old Minister of State for Commerece and Industry. He represents Indian National Congress as an MP for the Guna constituency in Madhya Pradesh. His father Madhavrao Scindia was a prominent Indian politician and minister from the Congress Party.
After earning a management degree from the Stanford College in the United States, he worked as an investment banker for Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley and also gained some development experience working as an intern with the UN Economic Development Cell.
Sachin Pilot (born 7 September 1977)
Son of deceased Congress politician and Union Minister Rajesh Pilot (who was also a Squadron Leader in the Air Force and hence the name “Pilot”), 33-year-old Sachin Pilot represents the Ajmer constituency on the ticket of Indian National Congress. A management graduate from the prestigious Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA, he is presently the Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology. He is married to the daughter of Farooq Abdullah.
Naveen Jindal (born 9 March 1970)
Born to O.P. Jindal, who was a prominent Indian industrialist and politician, Naveen Jindal represents the Kurukshetra constituency in the state of Haryana on the ticket of Indian National Congress. An MBA from the University of Texas, Jindal owns 45 horses and a polo team. He fought a long legal battle for the legalisation of flying of Flag of India inside and atop non-governmental buildings and institutions and emerged victorious. He then founded the Flag Foundation of India, a non-profit body to promote the national flag.
Priya Dutt (born 28 August 1966)
44-year-old Priya Dutt is the daughter of actor-politician Sunil Dutt and actress-politician Nargis. She is the sister of actor Sanjay Dutt. She is currently representing Mumbai North Central constituency for the Indian National Congress. After graduating in sociology from Sophia College, Mumbai University, Dutt worked in television and video. Later, she studied at The Center for the Media Arts in New York. She is actively involved in many charities and campaigns for many social causes including breast cancer awareness.
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