Youth and Politics
People between the age of 15 and 35 constitute youth. Those in their teens among the youth are said to be of tender age. They are not considered experienced and knowledgeable enough to understand the complex world of politics. That is why some people believe that the youth should not take part in politics. But when the government reduced the age of eligibility for casting vote from 21 to 18, the message was quite clear: that the youth should actively take part in the process of elections whereby the candidates are elected to form governments at the state as well as centre.
India is the biggest democracy in the world. The real power lies in the hands of the people who elect the people who rule the country. The basic principle of democracy is that it should have a wide participation by the people. The more is the percentage of voters out of the total population of the country, the stronger is the base of the democracy because the mandate given in the elections would have a popular sport. By making the age of casting of vote as 18, the government brought crores of people within the ambit of active participation in elections thus giving a broad base to the democratic processes.
It also gave the message that our youth is mature and wise enough to understand their responsibility and they would give their mandate after carefully considering candidates’ capabilities. Being young, they are not swayed by the old systems of caste, creed and other orthodoxy which had been the bane of Indian politics for quite some time in the post-independence era. The government also seemed to have realised that it was important for India’s future to induct the youth in the democratic process at an early age. After all it is the youth who ultimately will become the stalwarts in politics and one day will hold the reins in their hands. There has been much debate and discussion in various circles across the country on whether the youth should take part in politics.
Many people believed that
India is the biggest democracy in the world. The real power lies in the hands of the people who elect the people who rule the country. The basic principle of democracy is that it should have a wide participation by the people. The more is the percentage of voters out of the total population of the country, the stronger is the base of the democracy because the mandate given in the elections would have a popular sport. By making the age of casting of vote as 18, the government brought crores of people within the ambit of active participation in elections thus giving a broad base to the democratic processes.
It also gave the message that our youth is mature and wise enough to understand their responsibility and they would give their mandate after carefully considering candidates’ capabilities. Being young, they are not swayed by the old systems of caste, creed and other orthodoxy which had been the bane of Indian politics for quite some time in the post-independence era. The government also seemed to have realised that it was important for India’s future to induct the youth in the democratic process at an early age. After all it is the youth who ultimately will become the stalwarts in politics and one day will hold the reins in their hands. There has been much debate and discussion in various circles across the country on whether the youth should take part in politics.
Many people believed that