Age, it is said, is just a number. Age by itself does not define the level of one’s performance. Yet, ageing means a loss of vim, vigour and vitality for most individuals – the reason why a retirement age is imposed on jobs in both government and private sectors. It is the energy of the youth that powers nations and institutions. Today, that energy powers India, China and much of the oriental world with the exception of Japan, where marriage as an institution is dying and procreation is no longer seen as an imperative. So too with the developed West, be it Europe or the Americas. When it comes to India, some 65 per cent of the population comprises those under age 35; and some 60 crore Indians are the youth between the ages of 15 and 35. Yet, what looks ludicrous is that the leadership of most parties comprises ageing men. More so with anachronisms like the two Communist parties, wherein the old leaders remain firmly perched on their seats without giving the next generation a chance to perform. This sentiment found expression at the CPI-M leadership meeting in West Bengal this week, with leaders of its student and youth wings complaining bitterly that the elders sans any energy are virtually killing the party.
As for the CPI-M, which held a firm grip over governance in West Bengal for seven terms or 34 years, the party lost its support not just in Bengal but almost elsewhere. The CPI has lost its national party status and the CPI-M might face the same fate after the 2024 polls. The CPI-M is led by Sitaram Yechury, 70, while the Bengal party secretary Md Salim is 65; both being much “younger” than the whole lot of oldies inhabiting the party’s leadership structures for many years. As for the BJP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is nearing 73 and the party has put a bar on age for leadership at 75. No such bar exists in other parties. So many politicians in the higher ranks in the Congress party are 70-plus, having been in circulation for over half a century. Infusion of fresh blood is important for every political establishment as also for other entities. Private entities rise to the occasion as companies are eminently guided by a survival instinct and the yardstick for continuation in a job is sheer competence. Not so for the political parties, which are a rule-unto-themselves. Those who enjoyed the limelight like celluloid heroes are not willing to vacate their space even when they have started greying and shrinking.