Poll contesting age should be lowered, says Aaditya Thackeray

Mumbai: Yuva Sena president Aaditya Thackeray on Saturday demanded that the age to contest elections for legislative bodies be lowered to 21 or 18 years. The current minimum age for fighting the Lok Sabha or a state Assembly election is 25. Party sources said the leader is trying to get more youths into politics, which could boost his outfit.

Aaditya Thackeray, the son of Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, said if one could vote at 18 then why couldn’t one fight polls to become a lawmaker.

“In some countries, one can contest elections at the age of 18. Our youth is responsible and energetic enough to be the change and do good things,” he tweeted.

When contacted, the 27-year-old said that lowering the age limit would help youngsters become part of the legislative system.

“It will help in deeper engagement of young and passionate people with the system and make it more vibrant,” said Aaditya Thackeray, whose organisation is the youth wing of the Shiv Sena.

Earlier this year, some Yuva Sena candidates contested the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls and also got elected. There was a demand for more tickets for Yuva Sena workers then.

A few years ago, when Aaditya entered politics, there were reports that he would be contesting the polls. However, he was below 25 years then and did not show keen interest in actually contesting elections.

In the recent Gujarat polls also, 23-year-old Patidar leader Hardik Patel could not contest, as he did not fulfil the age criteria.