124-Year-Old Minta Devi Urges Election Body to Correct Age Error

Quick Summary

• Incident: SiwanS Minta Devi became the center of controversy after her voter card incorrectly listed her age as 124 years.
• Opposition’s Protest: congress leaders, including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, cited Ms. Devi’s case while protesting alleged voter roll irregularities outside Parliament.
• Official Cause of Error: The Siwan District Magistrate attributed the mistake to “human error,” reportedly made by Ms.Devi’s husband during the online request process for her voter card.
• Statement from ms. Devi: She clarified her actual birth date (July 15, 1990) and said she was unaware of the error until notified by media personnel. She urged authorities to rectify the issue instantly.
• Election Commission’s Role: Neither booth-level officers nor proper verification procedures were conducted in Ms. Devi’s case,according to statements from her family members.
• District Response: Deputy Election Officer Sohail Ahmed confirmed steps are underway to correct the error in polling station number 94 under Siwan’s Darauda Legislative Assembly constituency.

Indian Opinion Analysis

The incident involving Minta Devi has brought critical attention to potential lapses in India’s electoral process during Bihar’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls. Several factors-such as reliance on online applications without sufficient verification and missing ground-level checks by booth Level Officers-highlight procedural weaknesses that could undermine public trust in democratic institutions like elections.

While human errors are inevitable in large-scale bureaucratic operations, swift correction measures and a obvious explanation from authorities are pivotal for damage control and restoring credibility. By pinpointing reasons behind individual cases such as this one-and acknowledging systemic shortcomings-India can better fortify its electoral systems against allegations like those raised by opposition parties.

For political discourse moving forward,this episode may underscore demands for stricter accountability measures within election oversight mechanisms nationwide.

Read more