CP Joshi (top) and Pratap Singh Kachariawas. Picture by Gopal Sunger

Jaipur, Nov. 19: The Grand Old Party is taking its sobriquet rather seriously, at least in Rajasthan.

Heir-in-waiting Rahul Gandhi has been striving to give the Congress a youthful look, but the party has opted for “grey-haired experience” while distributing tickets for the December 4 Assembly elections.

The Congress has given more than 50 per cent of the tickets for 200 seats to leaders above the age of 51. Only 10 per cent of those in the fray belong to the 25-35 “youth brigade”.

A red-faced state Congress president C.P. Joshi took pains to explain that the “youth” policy had to be abandoned because of the need to “win” the election no matter what. “We are in electoral politics and the winning capability, popularity and acceptability of each candidate have to be taken into account. The upper age limit was kept to bring in more youths but we need to be practical about the winning chances of the candidates,” said Joshi, 58.

Even Sachin Pilot, the 31-year-old St Stephen’s College and Wharton-educated MP from Dausa, agreed.

“The age limit was only a proposal and never meant to be implemented but yes, younger leaders should be given a chance,” said Pilot, the suave and articulate son of Rajesh Pilot who is part of the new breed of Congress’s young MPs.

The Congress has given about a dozen tickets to those above 70, among them former finance minister Pradyuman Singh. The party has also depended on the age group of 36 to 38 years to launch new faces to capitalise on the anti-incumbency factor. But a close look at the candidates suggests that the launch is simply a progression of the succession policy with many sons and daughters stepping in place of their fathers and relatives.

The ticket for the Weir constituency, for example, has passed from former chief minister Jagannath Pahadia to son Sanjay; the baton for Mandwa has been handed over by former state minister Ramnarayan Choudhury to daughter Rita Kumari; former state minister Tayyab Hussain has relinquished his claim on Kaman to daughter Zahida while in Shergarh, former minister Khet Singh Rathore has decided to step down in favour of his nephew Umed Singh Rathore.

The BJP, which too had been championing the youth cause, has fared no better. Of the 200 constituencies, as many as 110 would be contested by those above the age of 51.

Among the few young leaders in fray is Siddhi Kumari, 35, of the erstwhile Bikaner Royal family who is contesting from Bikaner East. Her grandfather, Maharaja Karni Singh, had won the Bikaner Lok Sabha seat five consecutive times. A painter, Siddhi now says she wants to continue her grandfather’s legacy.

The BJP has also fielded young leader Ashok Lahoti from the prestigious Civil Lines constituency in Jaipur, who says his priority would be water and power and is up against another young leader, Pratap Kachariawas of the Congress.