Meet Minta Devi: 124-year-old 'first-time' voter
What's the story
Several MPs from the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) on Tuesday wore T-shirts with "Minta Devi" and her picture during a protest in the Parliament House complex. The T-shirts also had "124 Not Out" written on the back. The protest was against alleged irregularities in the Election Commission's voter roll revision in Bihar and "vote theft." The MPs, including Congress leaders Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, alleged that Devi was a "124-year-old first-time voter" on the Bihar voters' list.
Protest details
Minta Devi '124-year-old' 1st-time voter
The Bihar draft roll, which was released recently, listed Devi's age as 124, which is nine years older than the world's verified oldest person. Vadra claimed there are several such cases with fake addresses and names of relatives. Sharing a picture of the list, Congress leader Pawan Khera took a jibe at the ECI, saying, "We proudly nominate Minta Devi for the Guinness World Record: THE YOUNGEST LOOKING OLDEST HUMAN in India."
Twitter Post
Mega voter fraud can never be allowed: Venugopal
The Election Commission has done a great service to humankind! They discovered the oldest living human, Smt. Minta Devi, whose age is listed as 124 years in the Bihar SIR!
— K C Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) August 12, 2025
The mega voter fraud done by the ECI can never be allowed. INDIA will keep protesting until it is stopped. pic.twitter.com/0FtLeDvh8k
Official response
NDTV investigation finds age error
However, an NDTV investigation found that Devi is actually 35 years old, and her age was mistakenly recorded in her application form. Speaking to News24, Devi said, "The Election Commission turned me into a grandmother; it's the typist's mistake." An election official also admitted that her age was changed due to an error on her application form.
Roll revision
Opposition continues to protest against 'vote chori'
The Election Commission has defended the SIR exercise, saying many ineligible persons have obtained voter cards since it hasn't been conducted regularly since 2004. The commission also said no political party approached them for changes to Bihar's draft voters' list. The Election Commission has received over 10,000 forms from individual electors seeking inclusion in the draft roll. The draft roll is open for the public and political parties to file claims and objections till September 1.