Telangana Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president N. Ramchander Rao on Monday, 27 July accused Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy of floating the proposal to lower the minimum age for contesting elections from 25 to 21 purely to deflect public scrutiny from the Congress government's governance failures. Addressing a press conference in Hyderabad, Rao alleged the move was driven by fear that Generation Z voters would hold the government accountable for its record.

The Core Allegation

Rao charged that the Congress government in Telangana has failed to disburse pending fee reimbursements of approximately ₹12,000 crore owed to nearly 20 lakh students. He alleged that Revanth Reddy mooted the age-reduction proposal precisely to shift the conversation away from this unresolved dues crisis. According to Rao, certificates of thousands of students remain withheld by colleges pending clearance of these dues by the state government.

Constitutional Argument Against the Proposal

On the substance of the age-limit proposal itself, Rao invoked the framers of the Constitution, noting that the minimum age of 25 for contesting Assembly and Lok Sabha elections reflected the thinking of Dr B.R. Ambedkar, who believed legislators require a degree of experience before taking on representative responsibilities. The BJP leader argued the proposal therefore lacks constitutional grounding and is politically motivated.

BJP's Counter-Challenge to Congress

Rao turned the youth-empowerment argument back on the Congress, challenging the party to appoint a younger leader as its national president in place of Mallikarjun Kharge if it genuinely intends to prioritise youth. He pointed to the BJP's own appointment of Nitin Nabhin as national president as evidence of the party's commitment to younger leadership. He claimed that across India, youth trust the BJP, which he said has established itself as the country's largest political force.

Litany of Broken Promises

Rao went further, listing what he described as a series of unfulfilled pre-election pledges by the Congress government in Telangana. These allegedly include two lakh government jobs, an unemployment allowance, a Vidya Bharosa card, free scooters for girl students, 75 per cent reservation of jobs for local candidates, and the formation of a Youth Commission. He also alleged that 17 government universities face a severe crisis due to fund and faculty shortages, and that a promised allocation of ₹1,000 crore to universities has not seen a single rupee released.

Demand for Resignation

Rao demanded that Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, who also holds charge of the Education portfolio, accept moral responsibility for the failures in the education sector and resign as Education Minister. He suggested that if Congress has genuine intent, it should hand over the education department to Congress youth legislator Mamidala Yashaswini Reddy to demonstrate credibility. The Congress government is yet to respond formally to these allegations.