'EC made me grandma': First-time voter Minta Devi shown as 124 years old in Bihar electoral rolls

Patna: The Election Commission has made me a grandma, said Minta Devi, suppressing a laugh, on a day opposition MPs led by Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra staged a demonstration in the national capital with her name and photo printed on their shirts.

If the draft electoral rolls in Bihar were to be believed, the "first time" voter, at "124 years", could well be the oldest in the state, where more than 7 crore electors will be exercising their franchise in a couple of months.

"How can I be blamed for the goof-up? I had filled up my enumeration form online, after having waited in vain for a visit by the booth-level officer," said the 35-year-old, whose name is now trending on social media.

However, the Siwan district administration has issued a statement, claiming that the would-be voter of the Daraunda assembly segment has been contacted and remedial steps were taken well before the anomaly made headlines.

According to a statement issued by the collectorate of Siwan, "An application was obtained from Minta Devi on August 10 for rectifying the error, to which her attention was drawn by the BLO. It will be dealt with during the claims and objections phase (of special intensive revision of electoral rolls)".

The matter has come to light at a time when parties opposed to the ruling NDA are assailing the special intensive revision (SIR), in the Parliament as well as the Supreme Court.

Minta Devi, however, is enjoying a good laugh.

"I am thrilled that, finally, at the age of 35, I may get a chance to cast my vote. Many polls have passed since I became eligible but somehow my name never made it to the voters' list. If the EC has made me a grandma (daadi bana diya) in the process, it is fine with me. I have nothing to fear. I had stated my year of birth as 1990, the same as in my Aadhar card. I cannot help it if in the draft rolls 1990 has been made 1900," she told reporters.

Meanwhile, social media was left abuzz with users raising doubts over two centenarians, both women, figuring in the voters' list for another assembly constituency.

The election officials were left coming out with statements asserting that Farzana Khatun and Asha Devi, both voters of Pirpainti assembly segment in Bhagalpur district, were, in fact, 120 years old.

The EC, however, did not respond to the claim, in a section of the media that the two centenarians were also registered as "first-time voters".