Now age a bar in Grand Old Party

Senior leaders in the state who are around 70 years of age include former chief minister Jagannath Pahadia, former deputy CM Kamala Devi, former PCC president Narayan Singh and former finance minister Pradyumna Singh.

Pahadia, who is also a former governor of Bihar and a former Central Government minister, recalls the time when he was given his first ticket. “It was 1957 and I was 25 years old. Even that time an older leader had to make way for me, so how can I reject such a rule now?” he asked. He added that such criteria were in the interest of the party, which is above and beyond the wishes of individuals. “We have to accommodate younger leaders for the future of the party,” Pahadia said.

However, former PCC president and MLA from Mandava in Jhunjunu district, Ram Narayan Chowdhary, a seven-time MLA believes that those above the age of 70 cannot be disregarded. “Though it is a good move for the party, elders are equally important because of their experience. I do not see a problem if a senior leader is old and mentally alert,” Chowdhary said.

Younger leaders, meanwhile, welcome the move. National Students Union of India (NSUI) state president, Dhiraj Gujjar, for one is ecstatic. “We wholeheartedly welcome this decision as many young Congress workers will finally get a chance to compete. In Rajasthan, 60 per cent of the voters are below 40 years of age, who will naturally connect with a younger leader,” Gujjar said. He added that there could be close to a hundred new faces in the Congress this time around. Sanyam Lodha, Congress MLA from Sirohi, managed a ticket at the age of 32 years. “I joined the party in ‘86 when I was 20 years old. But I managed to win the first time I contested from Sirohi and won again in 2003. I fully support the age bar as it could shift the tide for the Congress in the state,” he said.

Though officially, Congress leaders stated that the recommendations came from the A K Anthony Committee, sources in the party say they believe it was a suggestion from AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi, who is a figurehead for Congress young blood. As a young member of the Congress put it, “We need young leaders like Rahul Gandhi or how Rajiv Gandhi was. Older leaders have to be phased out once every 20 years or so to maintain quality.”

However, the age bar is just one of the new rules governing the recommendation of candidates. Joshi said the PEC had also directed the PCC not to recommend the names of Congress workers who have criminal records — even if they have not been convicted — due to their poor public image. “We have also decided not to recommend names of those who have lost the previous election by more than 15,000 votes or have not served the Congress party for the past three years,” Joshi said. He said such rules would ensure that tickets are given to deserving candidates and not to those who are recommended by senior leaders alone.

The new rules also stand to affect those politicians who are trying to push their progeny into the party, as the PEC has said sons and daughters of senior party workers will be denied a ticket unless they have been actively working for the Congress.

Joshi said, “We have also recommended that those candidates who have lost their constituencies due to delimitation should not be given a ticket for another constituency or even shift base to another district”.