CM urges PM to lower minimum age for contesting Assembly, Parliament polls to 21

Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to introduce a Bill lowering the minimum age for contesting Assembly and Lok Sabha elections from 25 to 21 years, while retaining 25 years for Legislative Council and Rajya Sabha.

Hyderabad: Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Sunday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to introduce a Bill lowering the minimum age to contest Assembly and Parliament elections from 25 to 21 years.

Speaking to mediapersons here, the Chief Minister said the Centre was likely to introduce Bills on seat enhancement, delimitation and women’s reservation during the ongoing Parliament session. He urged the Prime Minister to also introduce a Bill reducing the minimum age for contesting Assembly and Lok Sabha elections to 21 years, and Legislative Council and Rajya Sabha elections to 25 years.

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Revanth Reddy, who is scheduled to leave for New Delhi on Monday, is expected to discuss the proposal with the Congress high command.

Describing Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation as a “Gen Z moral victory”, the Chief Minister said the Prime Minister had been compelled to respond to the aspirations of young people.

“This is not the first time. Earlier, the Prime Minister had to apologise to the farming community after introducing the three farm laws,” Revanth Reddy said.

He also said that if the Congress forms the next government at the Centre under Rahul Gandhi’s leadership, the Education portfolio would be entrusted to a Gen Z leader.

Commenting on the Education Ministry, Revanth Reddy said several leaders who had previously held the portfolio faced political setbacks.

“I have seen the political future of previous Education Ministers. Smriti Irani, Dharmendra Pradhan, Prakash Javadekar and a few others suffered politically. I know Pralhad Joshi as he is from a neighbouring State, and I wish him the best,” the Chief Minister said in a video circulating on social media.