Soren and Co: Age no barrier for young chief ministers in the rough and tumble of Indian politics

The most prominent of these happens to be Yogi Adityanath, who at 47 is heading the country’s most populous state of Uttar Pradesh.

As 44-year-old Hemant Soren led his party Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) along with allies Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) to victory in the Jharkhand Assembly polls, he became set to join the younger generation of chief ministers in the country.

JMM working president and chief ministerial candidate Hemant Soren rides a bicycle when he came to seek blessings at father Shibu Soren's residence after victory in the assembly election on Monday. (Diwakar Prasad/ HT Photo)

Significantly, this will be Soren’s second term in office. He had helmed the state for the first time in July 2013 till December 2014. His father Shibu Soren has also been the chief minister of the state thrice.

However, Soren’s rise is not an isolated phenomenon as several key states are being administered by leaders below 50, who in the rough and tumble of Indian politics would be considered quite young.

The most prominent of these incidentally happens to be Yogi Adityanath, who at 47 is heading the country’s most populous state of Uttar Pradesh. The BJP leader was just 45 when he first held the reins of the state.

Adityanath’s rise is quite spectacular in another sense that he, unlike many others, did not come from a family of political bigwigs. However, he did have the backing of the revered monastery in Gorakhpur.

Another young leader guiding the fortunes of a major state is YS Jaganmohan Reddy. At 47, Reddy, son of former chief minister YSR Reddy, showed all his prowess when he managed to steer his outfit to a stunning victory in the polls in the southern state.

Interestingly, the northeast contributes a fair share in the number of young chief ministers.

Pema Khandu, who assumed office as chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh in 2016, turned 40 this August. He is also the son of a former chief minister, Dorjee Khandu, who died in a helicopter accident on 30 April 2011 on a constituency visit to Tawang.

Another young gun is Conrad Sangma, the chief minister of Meghalaya. Like Khandu, Reddy or Soren, he is also the son of a former chief minister. His father Purno Sangma became the Lok Sabha Speaker in the 1990s and was quite a popular one.

Biplab Kumar Deb is another BJP chief minister who is quite young by political standards. He is 48 years of age.

Among other youngsters in the venerable world of Indian politics, Dushyant Chautala, is just 31 and already the Deputy Chief Minister of Haryana. Chautala also comes from a family with strong political roots. His great grandfather being Devi Lal, a former Deputy Prime Minister of the country.

Significantly, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who crossed the 50-year barrier over a year back, had also assumed office when in his mid-forties.