From a distance, it looks like a dirty game in which people in white dhotis and kurtas participate to make collective decisions for the so-called betterment of our nation or it might appear as a mess up of baseless ideologies, contradicting dogmas and never-ending internal disputes on personal or private affairs. That is how many people from today’s open-minded and carefree generation would think about politics … a word, which forms the foundation of a nation to exist in this world, and a word, which directly or indirectly affects all our mundane activities. But unfortunately very few people realize this. “Today’s youth is tomorrow’s citizen”….sounds nice but how many of us really feel the essence of being a responsible Indian.
Many things are spoken about democracy, rights, duties, constitution etc. But how many of us actually remember the preamble of our own constitution. We read about it during our Social Studies classes during our school days and eventually we forget it, just like we forget about our responsibilities towards our own nation. However, there are lot of other things we are generally concerned about, like partying with friends, getting high, weekend night outs and where to go and chillax on the day of voting. Now voting day makes me wonder how many of us actually go for it. And even if we go for it we vote for the party which our friends vote for. Later on when fuel prices increase and we do not have enough money in the wallet or when the inflation occurs, we put full blame on our political system.
Does the youth think about the country? Are they interested in the politics of the country? These questions, which may seem incongruous to many, are the questions we need to raise. The word politician envisages an old, tired and worn-out individual. In general, we hardly think of youngsters as politicians. Many of us regard politics as “quicksand”. If one gets in, one may never be able to get out. Due to this wrong notion, politics is definitely not one among the diverse career options chosen by the youngsters. Why is it so? Have we taken for granted that the politics of our country will never change? Is the only aim of young men and women to settle down in life through a well-paid job and a happy married life? However, the biggest question is how the youth will get entry into it. Everyone wants to be a doctor, engineer, or IT expert no one wants to be a politician. Well, many of us portray youth as `cool, young and happening’ but we fail to realize the potential and capacity of young blood in reforming our age-old politics. And whenever any young dynamic person joins politics it creates news headlines.
There are certain rules of the universe. One of them goes like this:
“Change is the only constant”. Everything is set to change. How can we then expect our country’s politics to remain unchanged? In every walk of life the older generation is replaced. In politics, the earlier the better. If the youth do not enter politics, then who will? Perhaps the only reason BJP or NDA, for that matter, falls behind Congress is lack of a young leader. After Mr.Vajpayee, they were not left wid any leader in the real sense of the word. Narendra Modi is not young, neither is Advani. Gone are the days when Shusma Swaraj used to steal the show. On the other hand we have leaders like Rahul Gandhi, Jyotiraditya ScindiaOmar Abdullah in the Congress and National Conference respectively. Aren’t these examples enough?
When youth enter politics, it will be a real boon to Indian politics. The existing political scenario is full of corruption and false promises. The politicians at present are interested in increasing their vote bank share by announcing freebies making people lazy. This is not a good signal for a growing economy. This will improve only when the youth enter politics and change the entire system .Let us pray to God for that to happen soon. Youth is the future of every society, every nation. It is the youth who will take the nation forward .The youth have to participate in all constructive events in the nation and this includes politics. If the youth shy away from politics today, then who will lead the nation tomorrow? But I am personally against a very young Prime Ministerial candidate as I believe that seasoned politicians will be able to handle the power and pressures which come along with it, in a better way. But the youth have to make themselves a part of the mainstream as only by doing so will they be able to gain enough experience to lead the nation in future efficiently.
Just by saying we need youth in politics or that we need young people because young people are the future of Indian politics would just be of no use. It is not just the youth that we need. What we need is good people who would participate and contribute in building a new nation, a new India with improved infrastructure, schools, colleges, hospitals etc. By simply saying “youth”, do we want the son of a criminal MLA who cannot contest elections of his own, or to be precise do we want a criminal youth leading us? NO. Rather than emphasizing on youth, we should emphasize on well-qualified and non-corrupt politicians who do not take politics as a means of their earning but take it as a duty to take our nation to great heights. It is only good people that can make our dreams come true.
Disclaimer: This might not be a individual take.