Hyderabad: Chief minister A Revanth Reddy on Sunday demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi ensure that a bill for lowering the minimum age for contesting Lok Sabha, MLA elections (from 25 to 21 years), Rajya Sabha and council (from 30 to 25 years) be taken up along with three other bills, including delimitation and women’s reservation, in the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament.If the central govt has confidence in democracy, it should constitute a joint parliamentary committee on lowering the age bill and education reforms needed to be taken up. Gen Z, which defeated PM Modi, wants to make laws and raise its voice in Parliament, Revanth said in an interaction with the media at his Jubilee Hills residence on Sunday.Modi should listen to them with an open mind and not force them to launch another agitation. Their demands for withdrawal of all cases booked against students and youth and payment of compensation to the family members of those who died following the NEET paper leak should be conceded. On the other hand, AICC leader Rahul Gandhi has demanded that PM Modi should apologise to the youth, as he did to the farmers while withdrawing three “black laws”, Revanth demanded.
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Stating that it was the second time that PM Modi has been defeated, Revanth said the first time was by the farmers, and now by Gen Z. Modi had not learnt the lesson after the farmers’ agitation, and now the Yuva Shakti has taught him that neither narcotics nor I-T nor CBI or ED can threaten the youth. Modi should not try to threaten them any more, he stated.“Even the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan came only after Gen Z started demanding Modi’s resignation, if the former was not ousted from the cabinet. The youth are the future of the country and want to enter Parliament. It’s time to change the laws and bring Gen Z into the political structure of the country. Then only India has the possibility of becoming a superpower,” Revanth added.Stating that it was the Congress govt in the past at the Centre that gave the ‘Jai Jawan-Jai Kisan slogan’, Revanth said the new slogan is ‘Jai Jawan-Jai Kisan-Jai Yuva’. “Congress will extend all support to Gen Z in their fight to seek accountability from the central govt. PM Modi should come out of his thinking that he is the most powerful in India because farmers and Gen Z have proved him wrong, and have defeated him,” he added.While Revanth had already announced that a special joint session of the assembly would be convened in Aug first week to discuss and pass a resolution on lowering the age for parliamentary and assembly elections and send it to the Centre, on Sunday he disclosed that he would go to New Delhi on Monday to meet AICC leaders and INDIA alliance partners to convince them on the age lowering bill to be introduced and passed.“Parliament is in session and I will try to meet and submit representations to as many INDIA alliance partners as possible. I will also submit representations to Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge and urge them to take up the issue of lowering the age (for contest) bill in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha,” Revanth said.On lathicharge and tear gas shells used against students at Jantar Mantar, Revanth Reddy said Union home minister Amit Shah should explain to the country who permitted lathicharge, fire pellets and tear gas shells on students. “Even the Gen Z are demanding that first accountability be fixed, then punishment can be decided whether more ministers should resign or not,” he said.
