The BJP’s unofficial age restrict of 75 years — symbolised by the creation of the Margadarshak Mandal, usually seen as a euphemism for the celebration’s retirement cell — has saved the highlight on the query of when politicians ought to name it a day.
At the State degree too, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s age and well being have emerged as key speaking factors forward of the Bihar elections. Several cases of incoherence at public occasions have raised doubts about his potential to take essential coverage choices and successfully discharge his duties. This is in sharp distinction to the picture of ‘sushasan babu (boss of fine governance)’ that he cultivated throughout his early years.
In truth, gerontocracy — generally outlined as rule by a bunch of outdated males or a council of elders — has change into an vital theme within the world discourse on democracy. In the 2024 U.S. presidential elections, age dominated the marketing campaign dialog: Joseph Biden, the oldest President in American historical past, left workplace at 82, whereas his successor Donald J. Trump took workplace at 78 years and 220 days, setting a report because the oldest to be inaugurated.
That 12 months, celebrated worldwide because the ‘12 months of democracy’ for its many pivotal elections, noticed the rise of a number of geriatric leaders to energy, together with Brazil’s President Lula da Silva, 79; Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, 75; and Narendra Modi, 74.
The persistence of gerontocracy is obvious even amongst unelected leaders and dictators. From long-ruling strongmen in elements of Africa to supreme leaders in oil-rich Asian republics, many proceed to carry on to workplace properly into outdated age. Authoritarian leaders similar to Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 72, and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, additionally 72, have prolonged their grip on energy for many years, underscoring how age is never a barrier to political dominance exterior democratic programs.
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This development of aged leaders dominating politics, whether or not by way of democratic elections or authoritarian rule, is hardly new. Gerontocracy was a defining function of governance within the Greek city-states and the Roman Senate, the place advancing age was intently related to knowledge and expertise, making a type of conventional authority that legitimised the rule of the outdated.
An evaluation of the ages of India’s Prime Ministers exhibits a gradual upward development. At independence in 1947, Jawaharlal Nehru grew to become the primary Prime Minister at 58, serving with a median age of 66 throughout his tenure. By 2014, Narendra Modi entered workplace at 63, and the median age of Prime Ministers had climbed to 76. The vary has been extensive: Rajiv Gandhi was the youngest to imagine workplace at 40, whereas Morarji Desai was the oldest, taking cost at 81.
Tellingly, Nehru died whereas in workplace at 74 in 1964, whereas Manmohan Singh, the final Prime Minister earlier than Modi, stepped down in 2014 at 81. Across India’s historical past, the median age of Prime Ministers has hovered round 67.
In comparability, the median age of Chief Ministers elevated solely modestly, from 57 within the Nineteen Fifties to 59.5 within the 2020s, with the height decade being 2010–2020 when it touched 62.25. A breakdown by celebration — regional versus nationwide, and inside nationwide events between the Congress and the BJP — exhibits negligible variation, with the common age of Chief Ministers throughout the board hovering round 58 years.
The presence of youthful leaders similar to Nayab Singh Saini, Mohan Yadav, and Yogi Adityanath would possibly counsel that the BJP promotes youthful expertise, particularly when contrasted with the Congress’s picture as India’s ‘Grand Old Party’. However, our evaluation exhibits minimal distinction in common age between the 2.
In common, the youthful appointments throughout events are balanced out by veterans such because the late Prakash Singh Badal in Punjab, the late V.S. Achuthanandan in Kerala, and the late M. Karunanidhi in Tamil Nadu, all of whom served properly into their late 80s and 90s.
The age profile of the Lok Sabha has shifted markedly over the a long time (Chart 1), with the 18th Lok Sabha, which started its time period final 12 months, being the “oldest” but.
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The common age of parliamentarians rose from 46.5 years in 1952 to 56 years by 2014. Meanwhile, the share of youthful members (25–40 years) declined sharply from about 25-30% within the early years to below 10%. In distinction, the share of members aged 56-70 grew from lower than 25% to just about 40% by 2019. The information makes clear that India’s Parliament is ageing, with fewer younger politicians making it into the House over time.
If we have been to pick a random Indian, there’s a 50% likelihood that they’re lower than 30 years outdated. However, this likelihood is 0.007% if we have been to do the identical for a member of the Lok Sabha.
Chart 2 exhibits the variety of MPs in Lok Sabha below the age of 35, over time.
Chart 3 exhibits the age-profile of MPs within the Lok Sabha over time.
Sarthak Bagchi teaches at Ahmedabad University and Arja Kakkad, research in Ashoka University
Source: Book titled ‘House of the People: Parliament and the Making of Indian Democracy’ by Ronojoy Sen
