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This story is from August 29, 2014

Netas should quit active party posts at 70: Janardhan Dwivedi

Congress general secretary Janardan Dwivedi has said that people above 70 should quit active politics to make room for their younger colleagues.
Netas should quit active party posts at 70: Janardhan Dwivedi
NEW DELHI: Days after BJP sidelined senior leaders Atal Bihari Vajpayee, LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi by dropping them from the parliamentary board, Congress general secretary Janardan Dwivedi has said that people above 70 should quit active politics to make room for their younger colleagues.
Dwivedi on Thursday said that after a certain age senior leaders should take a step back and instead allow the youth to drive the party.
"The generational change is also essential in politics. In active politics, youth should be given preference. You can have an age limit of 65 or 70, whatever you feel is right," he said.
His statement comes at a time when there is a churn in Congress over the mantle being passed on to Rahul Gandhi with many among the old guard not sure he has it in him to lead the party.
BJP denied the post of Speaker to Advani, and ministerial positions to Joshi and other senior leaders on the ground that they have crossed the age limit of 75 years.
The move was strongly criticised by Congress which said senior BJP leaders have been put in an "old age home" and their 'Margdarshak Mandal' will only be a 'mookdarshak' (mute spectator).
But Dwivedi has a different take on it and he seemed to be in sync with the idea of taking the 70 plus group out of active roles, and casting them as mentors. "I have been of this view for a long time that there should be a timeline for people in public life as it is in other walks of life," said Congress leader who will be 69 next month.

Replying to a query whether the age ceiling should also apply to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Dwivedi hastened to clarify that the posts like that of presidents of political parties, President of India, Vice-President and Prime Minister may be treated as exceptions.
The statement came amid intense speculation about imminent changes in Congress with the younger generation likely to replace older lot.
Dwivedi said that an age cut off bar of 65 or 70 can be fixed for after consideration while asserting that he is not saying that leaders should retire from politics.
"I am not saying that they should retire, but the posts which require a lot of running around and physical capacity should be held by people younger. There are other responsibilities which elder leaders can take up but they should keep away from active posts", he said.
Dwivedi, however, said he was not raising questions on the intellectual capacity of elder leaders.
When asked whether he supports another Congress leader Jairam Ramesh' earlier remarks that those above 70 should retire from active politics, Dwivedi said that he was not talking about retirement but "making a difference between active posts and other responsibilities".
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