Revanth’s proposal to lower poll age a ‘diversion tactic’: BJP | Hyderabad News

Hyderabad: Telangana BJP president N Ramchander Rao on Monday slammed chief minister A Revanth Reddy’s proposal to reduce the minimum age for contesting elections from 25 to 21 years, alleging that it was an attempt to divert public attention from the Congress govt’s unfulfilled promises to students and youth.Addressing a news conference at the BJP state office, Ramchander Rao said the Constitution’s framers, led by BR Ambedkar, had fixed the minimum age for legislators at 25 after considering the experience required for public office.He said that if the Congress was genuinely committed to promoting young leaders, it should entrust the education department to a young MLA and appoint a younger leader as the party’s national president.He claimed that the Congress had failed to fulfil its promises to students and youth despite being in power for over two-and-a-half years. Demanding the immediate release of pending fee reimbursement dues of ₹12,000 crore, he alleged that around 20 lakh students were unable to collect their original certificates as colleges had withheld them over unpaid dues.The BJP leader also alleged that Telangana’s 17 govt universities were reeling under severe shortages of funds and faculty. He claimed that although the govt had promised ₹1,000 crore for universities, no funds had been released so far, affecting salaries and retirement benefits of teaching staff.Ramchander Rao further accused the Congress of failing to deliver on election promises, including filling two lakh govt jobs, providing a monthly unemployment allowance of ₹4,000, issuing Vidya Bharosa cards, providing free scooters to girl students, reserving 75% of private sector jobs for locals, and setting up a Youth Commission and an employment support system.