I believe it is extremely cynical to manipulate the palpable national mood for fresh faces in the 25 to 35 age group by a kind of apartheid. The lowliest of portfolios go to the youth, while the senior slots—defence, finance, home, external affairs—are reserved for the ancients. Imagine the electrifying effect of, say, Jitin Prasada as India’s foreign minister.
What the electorate wants is a prime minister who is as old as Tony Blair was when he became PM, which was 44. Giving young MPs the glorified but useless title of minister of state fools nobody. A system which allows the top portfolios to be reserved for the grey-haired and the bottom reserved for Sachin Pilot and Milind Deora is a fraud. If the portfolios where one can make a difference are pre-arranged for the over-70s, the electorate will see through the deception.
India 2008 needs a youth revolution. The country is yearning for youth at the pinnacle of our polity. If radical transformation is the aim, India’s political parties will have to stop perpetrating this youth fraud on the nation.