Bill to increase marriageable age of women to 21 a unilateral decision: Revanth Reddy

Hyderabad: Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president and MP A. Revanth Reddy on Tuesday slammed the BJP government for increasing the marriageable age for women to 21.

He was addressing the 137th Foundation Day celebrations of the Congress party at Gandhi Bhavan after hoisting the party flag.

Revanth said that while the Congress party focused on the welfare of the people, the BJP government was only indulging in vote bank politics. Rajiv Gandhi empowered youth by reducing the voting age from 21 to 18 years. However, the BJP has brought a controversial law to increase the minimum age of girls for marriage from 18 to 21 years. He said this was an attempt to intrude into the personal laws of different communities.

He further said that the decision was unilateral and the Bill was introduced without consulting anyone, including nearly 80 women MPs in the Lok Sabha. Revanth said the Bill was drafted and introduced in haste with an eye on the Assembly elections in five states.

The TPCC president also recalled the role played by the Congress in empowering youth and women.

Revanth said the BJP, TRS, and other parties who are questioning the contribution of the Congress in nation-building were completely ignorant about India's history. However, he said that the country's image and rank were badly hit after BJP came to power in 2014.

He expressed serious concerns over rising religious intolerance due to the communal politics of the BJP and its allies. He said that the youth must play a role in restoring democracy in the country by strengthening the Congress party.

Revanth alleged that the BJP government has been misusing the Parliament to bring controversial laws like farm laws aimed at either benefitting a few corporates or legislations like CAA for purely political gains.

He stressed the need to pass the Women's Reservation Bill and said that empowerment of women could happen by increasing their representation in the law-making bodies.

Revanth accused the BJP government of pursuing the 'Hindutva' agenda by creating divisions within the society on the basis of religions, regions, and castes. He also expressed concern over changes being made in the syllabus to promote the 'Hindutva' ideology.

The TPCC chief alleged that the BJP leaders have accumulated huge illegal wealth through corruption and irregularities. Similarly, the TRS government in Telangana was deeply mired in corruption, he alleged. Both BJP and TRS are using their ill-gotten gains to stay in power while throttling democracy, he said adding democracy could be restored only by bringing the Congress back to power in the country and Telangana. He exhorted the youth to support and join the Congress to restore democracy in the country and revive the process of development.

Former TPCC presidents V. Hanumantha Rao, Ponnala Lakshmaiah, and MP Uttam Kumar Reddy, senior leaders, including Bose Raju, Sampath Kumar, G. Chinna Reddy, T. Jagga Reddy, Madhu Yashki Goud, Dr. Mallu Ravi, Kodanda Reddy, Kusum Kumar, Padmavathi Reddy, and others were present at the function.