Jaipur: Rajasthan Congress’s decision to give nearly 50% of its tickets to candidates below 50 years of age will face its second major test in panchayat polls after the party fielded younger candidates in the recent urban local body polls.The party is now extending the strategy to rural Rajasthan with an eye on younger voters as well as its leadership pipeline ahead of the 2028 assembly elections.PCC chief Govind Singh Dotasra has directed the party’s 41 district observers, including five MPs and seven MLAs, to give due consideration to young aspirants, particularly those associated with the Youth Congress and NSUI. The 50% target was announced in July for both urban local body and panchayat elections.The move follows the party’s experience in the urban local body elections where several young and Gen-Z candidates won seats.In Jaipur, Congress fielded 12 Gen-Z candidates, four of whom won. Congress is now seeking to build on that experience in the rural polls.With candidates for the first phase of the four-phase panchayat elections already finalised, their age and organisational profiles will provide an early measure of the strategy.“The focus will be on candidates below 50, those below 35, first-time contestants and workers with NSUI or Youth Congress backgrounds,” said Dotasra.He added that the party had launched a Panchayat Election Task Force to identify young people interested in electoral politics and connect them with the organisation. The initiative is aimed at creating a pool of potential grassroots leaders.The move comes as Rajasthan has a sizeable young electorate. According to State Election Commission figures, around 1.85 crore voters are aged between 18 and 35, including 76.24 lakh in the 18-25 age group and more than 1.08 crore in the 26-35 category.For Congress, the panchayat elections also offer an opportunity to strengthen its grassroots organisation before the 2028 assembly elections, the next major state electoral contest. Young candidates who establish a local political base could subsequently take on greater organisational or electoral responsibilities.
