JOIN USPunjab man, woman of 265-years age to cast vote!
If initial electoral records compiled in Punjab ahead of Lok Sabha polls are anything to go by, India can claim a new world record with two voters ready to cast their vote at a combined age of 265 years.
Meet Ashwani Kumar and Akshita Dhawan of Ludhiana constituency, both hale and hearty at an unconceivable age of 265 years. That’s not all. There are hundreds of eligible voters in the same constituency who have crossed the age of 118-years. All of them are likely to cast their vote in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections in Punjab on May 19.
Records of the electoral registration office declare as many as 273 eligible voters in the Ludhiana East constituency are living at 118-years of age. The gaffe, as it appears, was on account of a possible system error while computation of the date by the staff.
Nevertheless, the comedy of errors has left the authorities concerned an embarrassed lot. Take the case of Sharda Devi, a resident of Ludhiana South constituency, who has been marked by the election office as an eligible voter with 145-years of age.
A process has been initiated to correct the fault. This is now being carried out diligently after conducting a physical verification of the voters. The entire process will take some time, but Punjab has days at hand given that it goes to poll in the last leg of elections on May 19.
Scores of centenarians on the voter list were noticed, which is what sent the alarm bells ringing. It was later found that in one segment alone in the constituency, out of the 57 eligible voters shown above the age of 100-years, thirty-five had died long ago. The record is being corrected expeditiously, officials say.