Revanth Backs Lowering Poll Age to 21 for MLAs, MPs

Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy is in favour of lowering the minimum age limit for contesting Assembly and Lok Sabha elections from 25 years to 21 years, to enable youth to step into legislatures.

He told that when individuals at the age of 21 are being appointed as civil servants and becoming mayors, why can’t they be allowed to contest Assembly and Lok Sabha elections?

He demanded an amendment to the relevant law to allow contesting for the Legislative Assembly and Lok Sabha at 21 years and for the Rajya Sabha at 25 years.

He stated that there is a need for the youth's voice to be heard through the platforms of the Legislative Assembly, Lok Sabha, and Rajya Sabha.

"It is necessary because if you look at neighbouring countries like Germany, Great Britain, Singapore, and many others, in more than 50% of countries, the voting age is 21 years. Earlier, our voting age was 21 years, and the minimum age to contest Assembly elections and Lok Sabha was 25 years, and everything was functioning properly. But when the voting age was reduced to 18 years, now it is time to reduce the age limit for contesting elections as well,” the Chief Minister told IANS.

“Because at the age of 21, we are appointing people as IAS, IPS, and other civil servants, making them mayors and district panchayat chairpersons. Then why not Assembly and Lok Sabha? Therefore, I want to raise this issue because around 30% of India’s population belongs to the Gen Z generation. They should get opportunities to serve as MLAs, MPs, state ministers, and central ministers...,” he said.

The Chief Minister announced that a special session of the State Legislative Council and Assembly would be convened in the first week of August to pass a resolution for reducing the minimum age limit for contesting Assembly elections. The resolution will be sent to the Centre.

Stating that youth are the future of this country, the Chief Minister said they should also have the authority to decide what they want.

He reminded that former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, with the idea that youth should be guides in the country, reduced the voting age from 21 to 18 years through the 61st Constitutional Amendment.

The Chief Minister also stated that his government was making efforts for key infrastructure development projects like the Regional Ring Road, Metro Rail, Musi River development, Adilabad Airport, and the bullet train alignment.

According to him, final decision is pending on these projects, and once that decision is taken, the Cabinet approval can be given. He demanded that the Centre take steps to develop Telangana in the same manner as it was working for the development of Gujarat.

“Modiji is the Prime Minister of this country. He can’t see Telangana differently from Gujarat. We have natural resources, and we need to capitalise on them. If we want to reach Viksit Bharat 2047 and achieve a $30 trillion economy, I want to contribute 10% of that economy,” he added