Telangana to seek lower age limit for contesting polls, says Revanth
Hyderabad, July 25 (TNT): Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Saturday announced that the State Legislative Assembly would adopt a resolution urging the Centre to reduce the minimum age for contesting elections to legislative bodies, saying greater representation should be given to the Gen Z generation.
Addressing a candlelight rally organised by the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) from People’s Plaza to Necklace Road in protest against the alleged NEET paper leak and the police action on students at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, the Chief Minister said the resolution would seek to reduce the minimum age for contesting Lok Sabha and Assembly elections to 21 years and for Rajya Sabha and Legislative Council elections to 25 years.
He said a special session of the Telangana Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council would be convened in the first week of August to pass the resolution before forwarding it to the Central government.
Revanth Reddy said Gen Z, which accounts for nearly 30 per cent of the country’s population, has less than one per cent representation in the Lok Sabha, and asserted that the younger generation should have a greater role in legislative bodies.
Referring to countries such as Singapore, Britain and Germany, he said young people have opportunities to assume top political offices at an early age and argued that similar opportunities should be available in India.
The Chief Minister recalled that the voting age was reduced from 21 to 18 through the 61st Constitutional Amendment during the tenure of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and that the Congress government headed by P.V. Narasimha Rao had lowered the eligibility age for contesting several local body elections from 25 to 21 years.
He said the youth should move “from the streets to Parliament” and maintained that greater representation of Gen Z in legislatures would help address issues affecting young people more effectively.
Revanth Reddy also said that if the INDIA bloc forms the government at the Centre under Rahul Gandhi’s leadership, he would urge that the Education portfolio be entrusted to a Gen Z leader, adding that ministries such as Education and Information Technology should reflect the aspirations of the younger generation.
Praising the student movement over the alleged examination irregularities, the Chief Minister claimed it had compelled the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
He warned that the Congress would launch an agitation in Parliament under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge if compensation was not paid to the families of students who allegedly died by suicide in connection with the examination controversy and if cases registered against protesting students were not withdrawn.
Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, several State Ministers, MPs, MLAs and leaders of the Congress and CPI participated in the rally.
TNT TS
