Assembly to resolve on Constitutional amendment on age limit for legislators

Hyderabad: Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy urged the Minister for Legislative Affairs D Sridhar Babu to move a resolution seeking constitutional amendment for age limit for Legislators, in the next Assembly session. Emphasising the maximum participation of youth in democratic process, CM underscored the need for bringing down the minimum age of 25 years for contesting as legislators to 21 years.

Earlier during the day, Revanth Reddy took part in the ‘Mock Assembly’ of under-18 students. He urged the MLAs of Mock Assembly to pass a resolution. He asked them to take up the issue with the President and Prime Minister and to also submit representation to the Parliamentarians from the State, so that they take up the matter in the upcoming sessions.

“We can see that youth excel in many fields by the age of 21. So why can’t they stand for election at 21 and play an important role in running the country? If more young people have representation in the assembly, issues like education, sports, and employment will receive more attention and legislation on those issues can be enacted,” Revanth Reddy opined.

He also reminded the under-18 MLAs that it was former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi who initiated the constitutional amendment to reduce the voting age from 21 to 18 years, stressing that it was important for the younger generation to remember who granted them that right to vote.

Under-18 students from various educational institutions acted as members of the Assembly (MLAs) and passed two bills – the Drug Abuse Bill and the Headquarters Bill – during the mock Assembly session.