MEET INDIA'S YOUNG NATION BUILDERS TRANSFORMING THE 2024 GENERAL ELECTIONS
Being young in India comes with its own set of challenges—being young in the realm of politics and policy, however, can entail even more difficulties due to its public significance and the stakes these fields have in our collective futures. Historically, India's youth has faced obstacles to accessing the fields of governance, voting, policy and nation-building. The 30 exceptional change makers featured on YIF's 30 Under 30 List embody a great vision: to challenge historically rooted yet weakening norms that have hindered the successful integration of India's youth in public policy and to empower young Indians like themselves across the country as active stakeholders in the present and future of the world’s largest democracy and processes — especially as it goes to its most pivotal elections this year.
These young Indians are testament to the tangible change that can be brought by young Indians, given the chance. It is with these 30 individuals that YIF looks forward to the 2024 general elections, and the mark that the largest youth demographic of the world will leave on its country.
By the numbers
72,00,00,000 +
YOUNG INDIANS
BUILDING THE NATION THROUGH
POLICY/POLITICS/GOVERNANCE
By the numbers
5,00,00,000
INDIANS BELOW
THE AGE OF 20
WILL VOTE IN MAY 2024.
Chandrani Murmu is India’s youngest member of the Lok Sabha, who was first elected only at the age of 25 and completes 5 years in the Lok Sabha this year. She is one of the reasons we look forward to the more young Indians contesting the general elections this year.
Yashaswini Mamidala also became one of Telangana's youngest MLAs, elected only at 26. Her active grassroots work and resolve for charitable service allowed her to defeat a political veteran for the same seat as a political newcomer.
Rahesha Sehgal is an anchor with ZEE WION, India’s only international news channel, starting her career at the age of only 23. She's a rising face within Indian journalism and has made significant impact in the media and television industry.
Ravindra Bhatti is the youngest and the first independent candidate to be elected as an MLA in Sheo, Rajasthan. He has served as the Student Union President of Jai Narayan Vyas University and is actively engaged in social work for the youth's welfare.
Anshuman Singh Bhati is amongst the youngest MLAs in Rajasthan, elected only at the age of 27. He is devoted to platforming young people and their aspirations at the state level.
Ashris Choudhry is the founder of India in Pixels, a data visualisation platform presenting India-specific data in an accessible format. He utilises his background in design and engineering to reshape how information is shared in India, one map at a time.
Mayank Pratap Singh became India's youngest judge after cracking the Rajasthan judicial services exam at just 21 years old. This extraordinary feat was made possible due to his commitment to the constitution and working in the service of justice.
Nirmal Choudhary is the president of the Rajasthan University Student Union as an independent candidate. He is deeply committed to student welfare and youth progress and has utilised his position within the student union to further these goals.
Shakliar Warjri is amongst the youngest members of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly, elected at the age of 26. He is also the Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs in the cabinet of the Government of Meghalaya, working to further youth representation.
By the numbers
SINCE 2019
YOUTH VOTER TURNOUT
HAS INCREASED 17%
By the numbers
32%
OF GROSS NATIONAL INCOME
IS CONTRIBUTED BY
YOUNG INDIANS
Priya Rajan is the current mayor of Chennai, making her the youngest mayor in the city, and the first woman mayor from the Dalit community to be elected. She firmly believes in the empowerment of women and in equitable development in her constituency.
Dhruv Jatti is a spokesperson for the Indian National Congress in Karnataka, the youngest to be selected in India at 23. He also founded the Indian Student Community and the Jatti Foundation, working on empowering students and building youth communities.
Srishti Jaswal is an award-winning journalist based in India after stints in France, Germany and USA. Her reporting has been supported by Pulitzer Center, International Center for Journalists and National Foundation for India. She has been a Digital Witness fellow with Princeton University’s Center for Information Technology Policy and an Ochberg Fellow with Columbia University’s Dart Center for Trauma and Journalism. She is covering 2024 elections with an eye on social technology and artificial intelligence used by political parties.
"Rashmi Samant is a national TV panellist, columnist, author, and was the first female Indian President of the University of Oxford Students Union. Her impactful work involves collaborations with media, think tanks, governments, and her non-profit foundation ATMAH. "
Ridhi Negi works as a Young Professional in the Office of the Minister of Information & Broadcasting and in the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports. She believes in creating social impact across various domains, from women and children to the environment.
Parag Jain works actively in the sphere of electoral politics and campaigning as a member of PolTek Solutions, operating across research, analytics and campaigns in the fields of elections, governance, politics, and education.
Smriti Deora is the Co-Founder and Creative Director at Pink List India, the country’s first archive of politicians supporting LGBTQ+ rights. In addition to the archive, The Pink List explores the intersection of queerness, politics, law, policy, and technology.
Prerna Bhardwaj works as the national co-convener for the social media of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad. She works at the intersection of activism, public policy, and governance, especially for and by young students.
Himadrish Suwan, a globally renowned institution builder and award-winning social activist, began his impactful journey in high school. Over the years, he has ascended prominent roles, such as Chairman of the Confederation of Young Leaders and Director General of the Indian Institute of Governance and Leadership. Additionally, he has held various significant political and governmental positions.
Niharika Choudhary is a content creator with a strong community of 4 lakh change makers. She started her channel at the age of 20 & the aim was to make education impactful. Her videos have reached crores of people and she inspires the young generation like herself to work for their country through politics & policy.
Anish Gawande is the founder of Pink List India, the Director of the Dara Shikoh Fellowship, a graduate in intellectual history and public policy, a writer, and translator. He has actively worked in the sphere of electoral politics with a focus on queer representation in the country.
Vidushi works for the Public Policy team at Meta, leading programs empowering online users and policy stakeholders to make the best use of digital platforms. She has extensive background in working with local governments on issues of gender inequality, digital innovation and financial inclusion.
Aradhana Sharma works as a consultant with SVEEP—systematic voters' education and electoral participation. As the flagship program of the Election Commission of India for voter education, her work focuses on spreading voter awareness and promoting voter literacy in India.
Prachi is an impact strategist at NITI Aayog. She is a core team member of the State Support Mission, a flagship initiative that promotes cooperative federalism among Indian States/UTs. She also leads partnerships for the 'NITI for States' platform to enable cross-learning in good governance, data, and policy practices.
Saurav Das is an independent investigative journalist and has garnered acclaim for his pioneering efforts in providing comprehensive and critical coverage of India’s judiciary and policy landscape since 2020. Beyond his journalistic endeavours, Saurav actively advocates for a more open and accountable State. As a transparency activist, he is involved in litigating matters related to the Right to Information Act and the right to privacy.
Abishek Sharma currently works as a Deputy Commissioner in Jammu and Kashmir, leading the district administration to ensure that facilities in the district are maintained and that there are great numbers of public participation in governance and policy.
Rimjhim Gour is a seasoned political consultant with experience in 18 Indian and 3 international elections. She founded Sapiens Research and Analysis at the age of 26. The firm excels in grassroots vote mobilisation for diverse voter groups.
Kartik Nijhawan is the co-founder of unfiltered by Samdish, bringing candid and accessible conversations surrounding politics and policy to an audience of millions of people. Having previously worked as a Senior Producer at ScoopWhoop, head of multimedia at Newslaundry, and producer at Indiatimes, he has built new spaces for young people to have fun while engaging with elections in India.
Akash Anand is the national coordinator of the Bahujan Samaj Party, amongst the youngest to hold this position. Akash has dedicatedly worked with the party over the years and was also a joint in-charge for assembly elections in Rajasthan, MP, Telangana, and Chhattisgarh.
As a consultant at the Lok Sabha, Samidala Manohar's work involves providing research inputs on parliamentary business. Some special research projects he has been a part includes the participation of women parliamentarians in shaping the Indian democracy.
Pratyaksh Kumar is the co-founder of The Geostrata, one of India’s leading youth-led think tanks. He has also actively worked in the domain of policymaking and international relations through his efforts towards the BRICS Youth Energy Summit and G20.
