2024 Lok Sabha polls an endurance battle for veterans, litmus test for young turks
Kolkata: After months of fervent campaigning, approximately 124 candidates, ranging from seasoned veterans to dynamic young turks, are poised to test their mettle on the vibrant electoral battleground this Saturday as nine Lok Sabha Constituencies prepare for polling.
This election, as political analysts feel, is going to be an endurance test for the veteran politicians while for the young turks, it is a litmus test. Grey hair or middle age has been the popular choice for candidates when it comes to Lok Sabha elections since here “experience” has always been the keyword but not anymore.
According to a report by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), there are over 3,50,000 young people in India aged between 15-29 years. In such a situation, the decision to field young candidates may reap the right benefits for the political parties and the voters.
In the 2024 election, in the context of Bengal, parties such as Left-Front and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) have chosen to break the trend and field young leaders from various constituencies, most in their 30s. The BJP, comparatively and apparently, is lagging behind.
On Saturday, one of the seats going for polls is Jadavpur. Here, the TMC has fielded the actress Saayoni Ghosh. Ghosh was previously fielded from Asansol seat in the 2021 Assembly seat but failed to clinch a victory. As a young politician who was given charge of the party’s youth wing, she seeks to bring new ideas to the Parliament. The CPI(M) has fielded Srijan Bhattacharya, another young turk whose introduction to politics has been with the Student Federation of India (SFI).
He too has listed certain issues which he feels ought to be ventilated in the Parliament to voice the concerns of today’s youth.
Diamond Harbour is another interesting seat where TMC has fielded Abhishek Banerjee who has been vocal about setting an age limit for politicians. However, he is already a two-time MP. The CPI(M) has fielded Pratikur Rehman who serves as the SFI’s national vice president and is batting for policies that will reflect the concerns of the young population who are apparently vocal in all mediums, especially social media.
On the contrary, the veteran politicians, analysts feel, are headed for an endurance test since their defeat could well sound the death knell of their political careers.
In the poll-bound Kolkata North seat, the veteran politician Sudip Banerjee from TMC is up against another old-timer and turncoat Tapas Roy from BJP.
The defeat of either of them could end their political careers. Similarly, in Kolkata South, the same could be said for TMC candidate Mala Roy.
In the Dum Dum Constituency, both the TMC and CPI(M) have fielded veteran leaders, Sougata Roy and Sujan Chakraborty, respectively.
