Need more youth in power, will bat for under-30 quota, says Shashi Tharoor

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said: “This government only specialises in sloganeering. There are no jobs and students who will soon be graduating from their colleges and looking for the jobs will be impacted most by it.”

Batting for the youth, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday said there ought to be reservation for elected officials under 30.

Shashi Tharoor said the government was built on marketing and it specialises in sloganeering only. (Sourced)

“I believe that even 18-year-olds should be allowed to contest for different offices. In fact, I would even recommend a reservation for elected officials under 30. This is a young country and more young people should be in power,” he said.

The Thiruvananthapuram MP, who was attacked by members of his own party for seemingly “praising” Prime Minister Modi, said: “This government only specialises in sloganeering. There are no jobs and students who will soon be graduating from their colleges and looking for the jobs will be impacted most by it.”

He was speaking at an event organised by NSUI near north campus, attended by around 300 students from Delhi University (DU). The DU students’ union (DUSU) polls are scheduled for September 12. Candidates filed their nomination Wednesday and final list of names would be released Thursday.

Talking about Congress-affiliated students’ group NSUI’s campaign “Awaaz Uthao, Seeti Bajao’, Tharoor said, “The campaign is relevant since this is a government that suppresses whistleblowers. Somebody needs to raise their voice against inequality.”

During the hour-long interaction, Tharoor fielded questions on various issues including Kashmir and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise.

“What is happening in Kashmir is a travesty of democracy by completely subverting spirits of the constitution,” he said, adding that he was “curious to see how the Supreme Court reacts to the petitions being filed on the matter.”

On the NRC matter, he said, “People who have been living here since 1971 have been called foreigners. They talk about Vivekananda and forget that it was Vivekananda who said that India was a place which offered place to persecuted people.” Tharoor also added that the Congress party is “doing everything it can” on the matter but “they have divided opinions on northeast.”