MPs, MLAs at age 21? Will Modi govt bite Revanth Reddy bullet
Telangana CM lauds the Gen Z protests to propose reducing the eligibility age to contest Lok Sabha, assembly polls. BJP calls it diversionary tactic
The Congress leader’s pitch coincided with the student protests at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar that caught the nation’s attention and prompted youth shows of strength across states.
Reddy is calling for another relaxation: instead of the current 30 years, setting 25 years as the eligible age for contesting Rajya Sabha and state legislative council polls. He pushed for it at a youth gathering in Hyderabad on July 25, the day the Jantar Mantar agitation prompted Dharmendra Pradhan to step down as Union education minister.
Reddy said the Telangana legislative assembly and council would be convened in the first week of August to discuss a resolution seeking the constitutional amendment to lower the requisite age for contestants to Lok Sabha and state assemblies. The resolution passed by the assembly would be sent to Modi.
In a conversation with INDIA TODAY later, Reddy said his contention was based on current scenarios and after gauging the youth’s aspirations and potential, particularly the scale of the Gen Z protests over examination irregularities.
“I shall also discuss the age-relaxation proposal with my party leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi to make it a Congress pitch at the national level. I also intend to meet INDIA bloc leaders and MPs across the party lines to initiate a nationwide debate on this and shore up support,” said Reddy.
Reddy recalled how the 61st constitutional amendment brought in during Rajiv Gandhi’s prime ministership in 1988-89 had reduced the voting age from 21 to 18 years by modifying Article 326 of the Constitution. The need now was for the youth to enter politics early and become able leaders and administrators, he said, referring to the system in Singapore and Germany.
“If one can become an IAS officer at the age of 21 and administer a district that has over a dozen assembly constituencies and two Lok Sabha segments, then why can’t we have an MLA or MP at that age?” Reddy told INDIA TODAY, citing the example of erstwhile Mahbubnagar, his native district.
“Smart youngsters are becoming IAS, IPS officers, launching start-ups, running unicorns. Then why ask our brilliant youth to wait till 25 years to join [electoral] politics?” he asked.
Reddy pointed to the eligibility age of 21 for contesting rural (panchayat) and urban (municipal corporation) local body polls, emphasising: “If one can technically become a mayor, sarpanch or zilla parishad chairperson at 21, why not the same age limit be applied for legislative assembly and the Lok Sabha?”
The Telangana chief minister wants the proposed age-relaxation amendment to be taken up by the Centre simultaneously with the delimitation exercise. “Our prime minister who speaks only on ‘Mann Ki Baat’ should start heeding the youth’s desires. The yuva shakti is asking questions,” he said.
The Opposition BJP in Telangana countered Reddy, with N. Ramchander Rao, the party’s state president, calling the proposal “deceptive and diversionary politics” aimed at shifting youth attention from the Congress government’s “failures and unfulfilled promises”.
“The framers of our Constitution, particularly Dr B.R. Ambedkar, fixed the minimum age at 25 years with the foresight that legislators need experience,” Rao said on July 27. Claiming that the Reddy government had not fulfilled even one election promise in two and a half years, he said the pending reimbursement of fee dues worth Rs 12,000 crore was affecting nearly 2 million students. Colleges were withholding their original certificates, causing severe hardship, whereas 17 public universities in Telangana were facing an acute fund and faculty crunch, he said.
“Reddy promised Rs 1,000 crore to universities. He has not released even a single rupee so far. Teachers are deprived of salaries and retirement benefits, leaving the entire education system crippled,” Rao alleged.
BJP leaders have been demanding the resignation of Reddy, who holds the education portfolio, on moral grounds and mocking that one of the youngest Congress MLAs in Telangana be handed over the crucial portfolio.
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The Congress leader’s pitch coincided with the student protests at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar that caught the nation’s attention and prompted youth shows of strength across states.
Reddy is calling for another relaxation: instead of the current 30 years, setting 25 years as the eligible age for contesting Rajya Sabha and state legislative council polls. He pushed for it at a youth gathering in Hyderabad on July 25, the day the Jantar Mantar agitation prompted Dharmendra Pradhan to step down as Union education minister.
Reddy said the Telangana legislative assembly and council would be convened in the first week of August to discuss a resolution seeking the constitutional amendment to lower the requisite age for contestants to Lok Sabha and state assemblies. The resolution passed by the assembly would be sent to Modi.
In a conversation with INDIA TODAY later, Reddy said his contention was based on current scenarios and after gauging the youth’s aspirations and potential, particularly the scale of the Gen Z protests over examination irregularities.
“I shall also discuss the age-relaxation proposal with my party leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi to make it a Congress pitch at the national level. I also intend to meet INDIA bloc leaders and MPs across the party lines to initiate a nationwide debate on this and shore up support,” said Reddy.
Reddy recalled how the 61st constitutional amendment brought in during Rajiv Gandhi’s prime ministership in 1988-89 had reduced the voting age from 21 to 18 years by modifying Article 326 of the Constitution. The need now was for the youth to enter politics early and become able leaders and administrators, he said, referring to the system in Singapore and Germany.
“If one can become an IAS officer at the age of 21 and administer a district that has over a dozen assembly constituencies and two Lok Sabha segments, then why can’t we have an MLA or MP at that age?” Reddy told INDIA TODAY, citing the example of erstwhile Mahbubnagar, his native district.
“Smart youngsters are becoming IAS, IPS officers, launching start-ups, running unicorns. Then why ask our brilliant youth to wait till 25 years to join [electoral] politics?” he asked.
Reddy pointed to the eligibility age of 21 for contesting rural (panchayat) and urban (municipal corporation) local body polls, emphasising: “If one can technically become a mayor, sarpanch or zilla parishad chairperson at 21, why not the same age limit be applied for legislative assembly and the Lok Sabha?”
The Telangana chief minister wants the proposed age-relaxation amendment to be taken up by the Centre simultaneously with the delimitation exercise. “Our prime minister who speaks only on ‘Mann Ki Baat’ should start heeding the youth’s desires. The yuva shakti is asking questions,” he said.
The Opposition BJP in Telangana countered Reddy, with N. Ramchander Rao, the party’s state president, calling the proposal “deceptive and diversionary politics” aimed at shifting youth attention from the Congress government’s “failures and unfulfilled promises”.
“The framers of our Constitution, particularly Dr B.R. Ambedkar, fixed the minimum age at 25 years with the foresight that legislators need experience,” Rao said on July 27. Claiming that the Reddy government had not fulfilled even one election promise in two and a half years, he said the pending reimbursement of fee dues worth Rs 12,000 crore was affecting nearly 2 million students. Colleges were withholding their original certificates, causing severe hardship, whereas 17 public universities in Telangana were facing an acute fund and faculty crunch, he said.
“Reddy promised Rs 1,000 crore to universities. He has not released even a single rupee so far. Teachers are deprived of salaries and retirement benefits, leaving the entire education system crippled,” Rao alleged.
BJP leaders have been demanding the resignation of Reddy, who holds the education portfolio, on moral grounds and mocking that one of the youngest Congress MLAs in Telangana be handed over the crucial portfolio.
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The Congress leader’s pitch coincided with the student protests at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar that caught the nation’s attention and prompted youth shows of strength across states.
Reddy is calling for another relaxation: instead of the current 30 years, setting 25 years as the eligible age for contesting Rajya Sabha and state legislative council polls. He pushed for it at a youth gathering in Hyderabad on July 25, the day the Jantar Mantar agitation prompted Dharmendra Pradhan to step down as Union education minister.
Reddy said the Telangana legislative assembly and council would be convened in the first week of August to discuss a resolution seeking the constitutional amendment to lower the requisite age for contestants to Lok Sabha and state assemblies. The resolution passed by the assembly would be sent to Modi.
In a conversation with INDIA TODAY later, Reddy said his contention was based on current scenarios and after gauging the youth’s aspirations and potential, particularly the scale of the Gen Z protests over examination irregularities.
“I shall also discuss the age-relaxation proposal with my party leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi to make it a Congress pitch at the national level. I also intend to meet INDIA bloc leaders and MPs across the party lines to initiate a nationwide debate on this and shore up support,” said Reddy.
Reddy recalled how the 61st constitutional amendment brought in during Rajiv Gandhi’s prime ministership in 1988-89 had reduced the voting age from 21 to 18 years by modifying Article 326 of the Constitution. The need now was for the youth to enter politics early and become able leaders and administrators, he said, referring to the system in Singapore and Germany.
“If one can become an IAS officer at the age of 21 and administer a district that has over a dozen assembly constituencies and two Lok Sabha segments, then why can’t we have an MLA or MP at that age?” Reddy told INDIA TODAY, citing the example of erstwhile Mahbubnagar, his native district.
“Smart youngsters are becoming IAS, IPS officers, launching start-ups, running unicorns. Then why ask our brilliant youth to wait till 25 years to join [electoral] politics?” he asked.
Reddy pointed to the eligibility age of 21 for contesting rural (panchayat) and urban (municipal corporation) local body polls, emphasising: “If one can technically become a mayor, sarpanch or zilla parishad chairperson at 21, why not the same age limit be applied for legislative assembly and the Lok Sabha?”
The Telangana chief minister wants the proposed age-relaxation amendment to be taken up by the Centre simultaneously with the delimitation exercise. “Our prime minister who speaks only on ‘Mann Ki Baat’ should start heeding the youth’s desires. The yuva shakti is asking questions,” he said.
The Opposition BJP in Telangana countered Reddy, with N. Ramchander Rao, the party’s state president, calling the proposal “deceptive and diversionary politics” aimed at shifting youth attention from the Congress government’s “failures and unfulfilled promises”.
“The framers of our Constitution, particularly Dr B.R. Ambedkar, fixed the minimum age at 25 years with the foresight that legislators need experience,” Rao said on July 27. Claiming that the Reddy government had not fulfilled even one election promise in two and a half years, he said the pending reimbursement of fee dues worth Rs 12,000 crore was affecting nearly 2 million students. Colleges were withholding their original certificates, causing severe hardship, whereas 17 public universities in Telangana were facing an acute fund and faculty crunch, he said.
“Reddy promised Rs 1,000 crore to universities. He has not released even a single rupee so far. Teachers are deprived of salaries and retirement benefits, leaving the entire education system crippled,” Rao alleged.
BJP leaders have been demanding the resignation of Reddy, who holds the education portfolio, on moral grounds and mocking that one of the youngest Congress MLAs in Telangana be handed over the crucial portfolio.
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