Lowering the Minimum Age for Contesting Elections

Why in news?

• A Parliamentary panel has suggested lowering the minimum age for contesting in Assembly elections from 25 years to 18 year

Advantages: 

• This enables young people to actively engage in politics.
• Promotes young people’s political participation.
• By permitting representation from various age groups it fosters diversity in leadership.
• Acknowledges that youthful candidates could have unique perspectives on modern concerns. 

Disadvantages:

• Young candidates might not have the experience for good administration and decision-making.
• They might not fully comprehend the complexity of government and public policy.
• Lowering the voting age could result in ill-prepared candidates joining politics and inefficient representation.

The Election Commission rejected the idea because it believed that 18-year-olds might not have the maturity and experience needed for such responsibility.