Jaipur: Congress is banking on younger faces in the Jaipur municipal polls, with 30 candidates below the age of 30 and 110 below 50 years. This takes the average age of its nominees to around 37, according to Jaipur in charge Rohit Bohra.The youngest candidate is Suman Bhati, aged 22, contesting from Ward 72. Bhati, from Jhalana slums, runs a laundry business. She said her own experience had shaped her priorities. “I‘m from an underprivileged area and have seen what situations women face in slums. If elected, I want to work on skill training, drug de-addiction camps and better policing. I also want CCTV cameras in my locality and regular patrolling by women police personnel,” she said. Breaking caste barriers is another issue on her agenda.For 23-year-old graduate Harshit Jain from Ward 46, transparency and accountability would be priorities. He wants a technology-based grievance-redressal system through which complaints can be categorised and routed to the departments concerned for resolution. Jain said he admires Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and followed Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ initiative.Both young candidates acknowledged their limited experience but said they are willing to learn. Jaipur in charge Rohit Bohra said the party had deliberately increased its focus on younger candidates. “Around 20% of our candidates are from Gen Z. Among all 309 urban local bodies going to polls, Jaipur has the highest number of Gen Z candidates,” he said.The party’s Jaipur district president Sunit Sharma could not be contacted for comment. .
