Amid clamour about Youngistan, Parliament remains old as ever

NEW DELHI: The youth may have played the biggest role in Congress��� victory, but only 5.88% of its elected MPs belong to the 25-35 age group. In contrast, a little less than half of its representatives in the newly-constituted Lok Sabha ��� almost 45% ��� are aged between 56 to 75 years.

In comparison, BJP may have only have 4.3% of its MPs in the youngest age group of 25-35 years, but its elected strength is younger than that of Congress, with a whopping 58.62% of its MPs between 46 and 65 years of age.

While the largest percentage of Congress representatives in the 15th Lok Sabha fall in the 56-65 years age group (34.08%), the biggest grouping in terms of age in BJP is 46-55 years (31.03%).

But over 14% of the BJP���s 116 MPs are senior citizens, while their percentage in the Congress��� parliamentary group is smaller at 11.27%. While Congress has 12 members in the 25-35 age group, BJP has only 5 of its representatives in this category.

In Congress, there are 36 MPs aged between 36-45 years, 62 between 46-55 years, 71 MPs between 56-65 years, 22 between 66-75 years and 1 MP above 75 years. The BJP has 5 of its MPs in the 25-35 age category, 26 in the 36-45 group, 36 in the 46-55 group, 32 in the 56-65 group, 15 in the 66-75 age group and 2 MPs above 75 years of age.

The youngest member of the 15th Lok Sabha is Muhammed Hamdulla Sayeed of Congress at barely 26 years, while the oldest member is Ram Sundar Das of the JD(U) aged a ripe 88 years.

The NDA���s prime ministerial candidate for the 2009 poll, L K Advani, is the third oldest member of the Lok Sabha, along with Sis Ram Ola of Congress. Both are aged 81 years.