CM Revanth’s Proposal to Lower Age Limit for MLAs Gets Mixed Response

Hyderabad: Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy's proposal to lower the minimum age limit to contest Legislative Assembly elections from the current 25 to 21 years got mixed responses from opposition parties.

Telangana BJP president and Union Coal and Mines minister G. Kishan Reddy said that his party is not opposing the lowering of the minimum age. “There is nothing wrong if all political parties agree to it. Parliament has to make a law to lower the age,” he said.

For the BRS, former MP Boinapalli Vinod Kumar said a person needs to have a lot of maturity to represent around 3 lakh people in an Assembly segment. Electing a youngster to the Assembly or to Parliament may not be a big issue, but the leadership qualities require certain exposure, which comes with age, he said.

AIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi said he was the only MP who had moved a private member Bill in the Lok Sabha seeking to lower the age to contest Assembly elections in August 2022.

Stating that he was the first one to raise the issue, Owaisi said, “53 per cent of India is below the age of 25. Yet, they’re excluded from the political system. I introduced a Bill to reduce the minimum age to contest elections. According to the Bill, the minimum age to become a member for the Assembly or Parliament must be 20 years, 22 to become a Legislative Council member; and 25 years to become a Rajya Sabha member.”

Owaisi pointed out that the private member Bill also proposed a ban on the arbitrary denial of rights to vote or contest in elections. This is to prevent laws requiring minimum education to contest elections or preventing non-convicted prisoners from voting.

CPI MLA Kunamneni Sambashiva Rao said that his party had not yet discussed the issue. The Central politburo would take an appropriate discussion at an appropriate time after discussing the issue in the party at all India level.

The CPI leader said that the issue must be looked at from all perspectives like mental maturity, physical fitness, how one can control aggression levels etc. The mental maturity improves every year at certain age levels, he explained.