Hyderabad: The state cabinet meeting will likely be held on Friday, with a draft resolution to lower the minimum age for contesting assembly and Lok Sabha elections and other issues likely to be discussed.Chief minister A Revanth Reddy is all set to launch the distribution of new smart ration cards and other programmes on Aug 15 in Sangareddy and on Aug 16 in Mulugu district. These are likely to receive cabinet approval.The meeting is also likely to discuss his proposed foreign tour, which could begin any time after Aug 17. The tour is primarily intended to invite foreign universities to establish campuses in and around Hyderabad and the Bharat Future City.CM Revanth has already demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi ensure that a Bill to lower the minimum age for contesting Lok Sabha and assembly elections from 25 to 21 years, and Rajya Sabha and Legislative Council elections from 30 to 25 years, be taken up along with three other Bills, including those on delimitation and women’s reservation, during the ongoing Monsoon session of Parliament.Revanth had announced in the last week of July that a special joint session of the Telangana legislature would be convened to discuss and pass a Bill to lower the age for contesting Lok Sabha and assembly elections. The Cabinet is likely to discuss and approve the draft resolution, which will be placed before the assembly.Sources said the CM would embark on a nearly three-week foreign tour, during which he is expected to invite some of the leading universities from the UK and the US to establish campuses in the CURE area and the Bharat Future City.Revanth is likely to tour the US, UK, Germany and China and offer land to foreign universities to set up their campuses in Telangana. The Congress govt is planning to establish a knowledge-cum-academic hub in the Bharat Future City, where the CM wants offshore campuses of foreign universities to be established.“The CM wants to showcase the state as a global destination for higher education, research, innovation, sports and skill development,” an official said.
