Chief Minister Revanth Reddy announced that a resolution will be passed in the assembly sessions demanding a constitutional amendment to allow MLAs to contest at the age of 21. He expressed his opinion that the amendment should be implemented in the Congress party as a CWC member.
While participating in the Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavana Yatra commemoration meeting at Charminar, he said tht former union minister Salman Khurshid is also demanding changes in the Congress party. He urged the youth to be given an opportunity to run the country and Salman Khurshid to take responsibility for contesting the assembly elections at the age of 21.
CM Revanth said that the eligibility age to contest as MLA and MP in the country is 25 years, and currently IAS and IPS are being formed at the age of 21 and are running the country. In that case, he asked why one should not contest as MLA at the age of 21? He recalled that during Rajiv Gandhi’s regime, the voting right was reduced from 21 to 18 years.
Revanth Reddy said that when the voting age was 21, it was 25 years to contest elections, and when the voting age was 18, the constitution should be amended so that the age of contesting in assembly elections should be 21 years.
“The British could not do anything to Gandhi, who fought against them. After independence, communalists took Gandhi to task. Those who killed Gandhi were more dangerous than the British”, he warned.
“During Rajiv Gandhi’s rule, the voting age was reduced from 21 to 18 years. Similarly, the eligibility age of MLAs should be reduced to 21 years,” Revanth Reddy demanded. He presented the Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavana Award to Salman Khurshid.
He said that the Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavana Yatra has been going on for the last 35 years and Gandhi is synonymous with India. Recalling that Rajiv Gandhi had undertaken a Sadbhavana Yatra when religious harmony was being damaged and the country was being divided, he praised Gandhi, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi for sacrificing their lives to protect the integrity of the country.
He recalled that Rajiv Gandhi said that the coexistence of all religions in India inspires and the Gandhi family has also inspired the country in the same way. Ministers Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, Uttam Kumar Reddy, TPCC chief Mahesh Kumar Goud, Mallu Ravi and Hanumantha Rao participated in this program.