E-Paper
110-yr-old Mandal, Delhi’s oldest voter, shows how it’s done
New Delhi: At 110, Kalitara Mandal, the oldest voter registered with the Delhi’s chief electoral office (CEO), came to the booth to cast her vote Saturday, as her
New Delhi: At 110, Kalitara Mandal, the oldest voter registered with the Delhi’s chief electoral office (CEO), came to the booth to cast her vote Saturday, as her application for postal ballot was rejected.
Mandal is one of 150 centenarians registered with the Delhi state election office. The postal ballot service, for the first time in Delhi, was extended to voters above the age of 80 years and for persons with disabilities this elections.
Mandal, a resident of South Delhi’s Chittaranjan Park, availed herself of the poll body’s pickup and drop facility for senior citizens and the disabled, and reached the polling booth at 9.30am. She was accompanied by her son Sukh Ranjan Mandal (53), daughter-in-law and grandson.
The centenarian was welcomed with a bouquet of flowers by the polling party, as she stepped out of the car and sat on a wheelchair to go inside.
“I just remember two symbols. I have been voting on these all my life,” Mandal, frail and hunched, said, as her son translated for his Bangla-speaking mother.
Also, she doesn’t know much about the current political leaders in Delhi, Sukh Ranjan, translating his mother’s words, said.
Born in 1908 (as per her passport) in Barishal (now in south-central Bangladesh), Mandal said she remembered voting in pre-Independent India.
Sukh Ranjan, who accompanied her to the booth, said, “We had sent an application for a postal ballot, however, we did not receive any communication from the election office after that. A day before polling, we got a call from the poll officials, asking if we would want to avail of the pickup and drop facility. My mother has always been enthusiastic about voting.”
The poll official, who assisted Mandal, said, “I cannot comment on the postal ballot application. However, we made sure that she, as well as other voters above the age of 80 years, are not left behind. Being 110 years old and still coming out to vote, she has set an example for the youth. I feel overwhelmed and happy to be able to assist voters like her.”
The official added considering Mandal’s age and physical inabilities, she was assisted by her daughter-in-law in the booth.
