A Bihar's Siwan district woman, Minta Devi, has been perplexed and alarmed by her name being used by opposition MPs in their protest against the Election Commission's (EC) voters roll update.
Devi’s name and age were printed on white T-shirts worn by leaders of the INDIA bloc during their demonstration. She revealed that she only became aware of this days after the protest and questioned why, if government records show her age as over 100 years, she has not received any pension.
“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 authorized them to put on T-shirts with my picture?. I believe there are discrepancies (in list). I did not receive anyone's (of administration) call. Why are they making me their well-wisher over my age?. This cannot be done, I do not want it. I want my details to be corrected. Whosoever has filled in the details, with their eyes closed or without?
If Govt is treating me as 124-years-old, then why are they not providing old age pension to me? My Aadhaar Card has my date of birth as 15-07-1990," Devi informed ANI journalists. Earlier on Tuesday, some MPs of the INDIA alliance staged a protest within the Parliament House compound against the EC's special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar. They claimed that the SIR process was aimed at disenfranchising voters in the run-up to the coming assembly elections. Some top leaders such as Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Derek O'Brien, TR Baalu, and Supriya Sule joined the protest. Their tops had the inscription "124 NOT OUT" with the name of Minta Devi, which they claimed was copied from the voter list of the EC.
Banners carried slogans such as "Our Vote.undefinedOur Right.undefinedOur Fight" and "SIR – Silent Invisible Rigging." Congress MP Manickam Tagore charged the EC with bias in favor of the BJP, saying, "The voter list is full of such fraud," and demanded a parliamentary debate on the matter.
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