MP: Parties field younger candidates in a bid to woo the youth

Bhopal: With first-time voters in mind, most political parties including Congress and BJP have this time opted to give a chance to some fresh faces in Madhya Pradesh with the average age of poll contenders in the state hovering around the new ‘young’ of 50. [caption id=“attachment_1474687” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational Image. AFP.[/caption] The youngest Congress nominee in the race from Madhya Pradesh is 29-year-old Hina Kawre, who is contesting from Balaghat constituency. Hina is the daughter of former Minister Likhiram Kawre who was shot dead when Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh was the State Chief Minister. On the other hand, the youngest BJP nominee from MP is 35-year-old Savitri Thakur who is in the fray from Dhar seat. The oldest contender from Madhya Pradesh this time is 73-year-old Laxmi Narayan Yadav who is contesting from Sagar constituency as a BJP nominee. According to statistics available, the average age of Congress candidates works out to be around 50 while the average age of the BJP candidate is 55 across the state. Out of the 29 candidates from the BJP, 23 have already crossed the 50-mark. Besides Yadav, prominent among the elderly candidates is BJP nominee from Indore Sumitra Mahajan (70) and Nagendra Singh (72) from Khajuraho. While in Congress, veterans include former Madhya Pradesh Minister Indrajeet Patel (66), who is contesting from Sidhi and Union Minister Kamal Nath, who is 67, is in contest from his traditional seat of Chhindwara. Patel is pitted against 36-year-old Riti Pathak of the BJP. The total number of voters in Madhya Pradesh adds upto 4.7 crore. Of these, 33 percent are youngsters and fall in the age bracket of 18-29 years. PTI