Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy supports reducing the minimum age for contesting Assembly and Lok Sabha elections from 25 to 21 years. He emphasized that at 21, individuals are already serving as civil servants and mayors, justifying their eligibility for elections. Reddy highlighted the importance of youth representation in legislative bodies to ensure their voices are heard.
A proposed amendment seeks to allow individuals to contest Assembly and Lok Sabha elections at 21 years and Rajya Sabha elections at 25 years. Reddy pointed out that many countries, including Germany and Great Britain, have a voting age of 21. He stressed the need to adapt election laws to accommodate the significant Gen Z population in India and provide them with opportunities in politics.
To push this agenda forward, a special session of the State Legislative Council and Assembly will convene in August to pass a resolution on lowering the minimum age for contesting Assembly elections. Reddy underscored the importance of empowering youth to shape the country’s future and cited former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s initiative to reduce the voting age to 18 years.
The Chief Minister also highlighted ongoing infrastructure projects in Telangana, including the Regional Ring Road, Metro Rail, Musi River development, Adilabad Airport, and the bullet train alignment. He urged the Centre to support Telangana’s development akin to Gujarat’s progress, emphasizing the need to leverage the state’s natural resources for economic growth.
