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PERCEPTION EVIDENCE versus DID YOU KNOW? Until 2009 , youth in India were not perceived as a separate political category. People did not pay attention to this political category assuming that this it is not an issue of political interest and research. The prevailing PERCEPTION after 2009 elections was that a large number of young members got elected to the 15th Lok Sabha; that young people were politically mobilised in greater numbers due to the campaign by a young person such as Rahul Gandhi; that young people voted for younger candidates in sizeable proportions. So the discussion in the media and perception among public in 2009 was that a large number of young Members of Parliament (MP) got elected to the 15 th Lok Sabha. BUT Here is what the Evidence said in a research conducted by CSDS: The 15 th Lok Sabha was not the youngest Lok Sabha. It was by no means the youngest Lok Sabha. When we look at the compositions of all the 15 Lok Sabhas, we see that the first two Lok Sabhas, 1952 and 1957 had as many as 164 young MPs, the highest ever (aged between 25-40) getting elected. There were fluctuations between 1962 and 1984. But the figure never went below 100 during this period. The 12 th Lok Sabha has the lowest number of MPs, with 72 members. During the last seven Lok Sabhas, the share of young members has not crossed one-fifth of the total strength of the Lok Sabha. The average age of the 15 th Lok Sabha was 53 which made it the second oldest house so far. From 1989 to 2009 , the number of young MPs have always remained below 100 with the exception of 1996 when it was 102. The 14 th and 15 th Lok Sabhas saw the second lowest number of young MPs getting elected.
