Poll results: Maharashtra, Haryana prefer experience to youth while choosing MLAs

NEW DELHI: While Haryana has a new BJP-led government in office and Maharashtra is still waiting to form government after a fractured mandate, there are some interesting new trends that have been thrown up as the results came out on October 24.
The poll results in Haryana and Maharashtra have shown that people have chosen only 15% young MLAs between the age of 25 and 40 years in the 288 seat Maharashtra assembly, while in the 90 member Haryana assembly it is just 11%.But the number of MLAs who are 70 years old or above in Haryana are have grown from 1% in 2014 to 7% in 2019. The average age of MLAs in the present Haryana assembly is 55 years.
In Maharashtra, the number of elderly MLAs have fallen from 2% in 2014 to 1% this time. The 25 to 40 years has fallen from 20% to 15%, while 85% members are above 60 years of age. Members above 70 years of age has dropped from 2 to 1%.
The trend in terms of gender show the number of women candidates having dropped in Haryana from 13% in the last assembly to just 9% this year, which is 9 MLAs in this assembly as compared to 13 in the last.
In Maharashtra, 24 women have been elected this year as compared to 20 in the last assembly, making it a slight increase from 7 to 8%.
The trend shows an upward curve in terms of educational qualification of the MLAs.
The 14th Maharashtra assembly has elected 57% members who are at least graduates. The number of elected members who are educated up to the higher secondary level has actually dropped from 47% to 43%, while the number of graduates have risen from 40% to 42%, whereas the post-graduate figures have also risen slightly from 13 to 15%.
The 14th Haryana assembly has 69% MLAs who have at least a bachelor's degree, but graduates have fallen from 54% to 51% and post graduates from 20 to 18%. The rise is in the number of those who have studied up to the higher secondary level from 26% in 2014 to 31%.
So the level of educational qualification has actually fallen in the 90-member Haryana assembly, while the level has risen even if slightly in the Maharashtra assembly as compared to the 2014 legislature.