The main Opposition BJP said on Thursday that despite claims about giving prominence to youth in the government the average age of the new UPA cabinet shows it has a "surplus" of old people. "The union cabinet is not even old wine in a new bottle. It is like surplus wine in a small bottle. The average age of the Cabinet is 57 years," BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley told reporters in New Delhi. The senior leader was taking a dig at the Congress which had emphasised in its poll campaign on giving primacy to the youth under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi. BJP leaders,preferring anonymity,pointed out that though the UPA cabinet has nine former chief ministers,most of them are "not known for their administrative competence". The average age of the UPA Council of Ministers is 57 years. Though there are young,fresh faces,the opposition feels that these Ministers of State may be "too raw" to shoulder important portfolios. Interestingly,it was BJP which was at the receiving end of this age debate during the election campaign as its Prime Ministerial candidate L K Advani,is 81 years old. The opposition is keenly awaiting the allocation of portfolios to the new ministers to find out chinks which can be exploited later during Parliament debates and while attacking the functioning of the government.
