Vote chori’ row: Minta Devi, a woman from Bihar’s Siwan district, hit out at Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, and other INDIA bloc MPs for wearing t-shirts featuring her during ‘voter theft’ protest at Parliament House on 12 August.
She angrily asked who gave them the right to do so while dismissing the opposition’s use of her name and age for political motives.
“I came to know about this 2-4 days back… Who are they (Opposition MPs) to me? Who is Priyanka Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi to me? Who gave them the right to wear T-shirts featuring me?… I think there are discrepancies (in the list)… I did not get anyone’s (from the administration) phone call… Why are they becoming my well-wisher over my age?… This should not be done, I do not want this…” Minta stated.
She added, “I want my details to be corrected… Whoever entered the details, did they do so with their eyes closed?… If I am 124 years old in the eyes of the government, why are they not giving me old age pension? My Aadhaar Card mentions 15-07-1990 as my date of birth.”
The INDIA bloc MPs wore ‘124 Not Out’ t-shirts with her name to showcase errors in the electoral roll and alleged discrepancies in the voter list. She was named Gandhi’s presentation on the alleged vote theft issue. Her alleged age is nine years more than Ethel Caterham, 115, the verified oldest person in the world.
Minta, 35, further mentioned that if the government considers her age as 124-years-old, they should begin offering the benefits of an old-age pension to her. She has reportedly been registered on the state’s voter list, marking her first time on the electoral roll despite being eligible to vote for several years. Minta declared her birthdate as July 15, 1990, and submitted the necessary documents to support her application for enrollment.
In poll-bound Bihar, there have been widespread protests over the revision of the voter list, with parties from the INDIA bloc accusing the Election Commission of India (ECI) of working in favour of the ruling BJP by selectively deleting voters’ names to benefit them. The ECI has firmly denied these accusations, asserting that the revision of the voter rolls was carried out with complete transparency.