New Chhattisgarh Assembly: Younger, more educated and higher number of women representatives

Congress Party workers celebrate as initial trends show the party leading in the states Assembly elections, at the Congress headquarters in New Delhi. (Image: PTI)

The newly elected Chhattisgarh assembly is younger, holds more advanced degrees than the outgoing one and has more women MLAs, data released by PRS Legislature has revealed.

Of the 90 members elected to the assembly, 13 are women, three more than the last Assembly. The number of youth leaders, meanwhile, has increased a by a good 10. The 2013 Assembly had six MLAs between the ages of 25-40 as opposed to the newly-elected Assembly, which has over 16 legislators in that age group.

In Chattisgarh: In the incoming assembly, of the 90 members, 13 are women pic.twitter.com/rkffqklSCh

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— PRS Legislative (@PRSLegislative) December 13, 2018

According to the agency, there has been a 28 percent decrease in the number of members elected in the 56-70 age group, with the outgoing Assembly having over 42 members in that age group as opposed to 30 in the new assembly.

The number of legislators with advanced degrees has also increased by two percent, according to the data. In 2013, the number of members with a post-graduate degree and above were 31 while there are 36 such members in the new assembly. Interestingly, the number of graduates in the outgoing assembly was more than in the newly elected one, the data reveals.

Congress won the assembly elections with a thumping majority, winning 68 of the 90 seats and reducing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to 15 seats. The Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (JCC), led by former Chief Minister Ajit Jogi, and Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) won five and two seats respectively.

The Congress is yet to chose a chief ministerial candidate, and the contest is reportedly between four prominent state leaders, including Leader of Opposition in the outgoing assembly TS Singh Deo and the party's state chief Bhupesh Baghel.

Assembly Elections 2018: Read the latest news, views and analysis here