E-Paper
INDIA bloc protests in t-shirts featuring 'Minta Devi’, a ‘124-year-old' voter | Video
Several opposition leader, including Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi, were seen wearing t-shirts featuring the photo of one "Minta Devi" during the protest.
A day after the high-voltage drama over the opposition march to the Election Commission, the INDIA bloc leaders continued their protest on Tuesday against the alleged voter fraud and the SIR exercise in Bihar.
Several opposition leader, including Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi, were seen wearing t-shirts featuring the photo of one "Minta Devi" during the protest. The t-shirts also had '124 Not Out' written at the back.
Minta Devi was one of the voters to be featured in Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's presentation on the alleged voter fraud issue. The Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha claimed that "124-year-old Minta Devi" was a registered voter in Bihar draft voter list, which was recently released. The draft roll listed Minta Devi’s age as 124, which is nine years older than the world’s verified oldest person.
Reacting to the unique act of protest, Congress MP Manickam Tagore said, “The level of ECI's failure can be understood, the ECI under Rajiv Kumar, Gyanesh Kumar has become a department of the BJP. They have completely failed. For example, Mita Devi is first-time voter, but 124 years old. We want a discussion on this subject.”
He alleged that the draft voter list in Bihar is “a fake voter list” with “fake names”. “We want to expose, as a mark of protest, we are wearing this T-shirt,” he added.
Opposition leaders including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress parliamentary party chief Sonia Gandhi, TMC's Derek O'Brien, DMK's TR Baalu, NCP(SP)'s Supriya Sule and several others protested in front of Parliament's Makar Dwar.
The protest comes even as the proceedings of the Parliament remained disrupted over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) issue. On Monday, Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, and several other INDIA bloc MPs were detained by the Delhi Police while marching from Parliament to the EC office in protest against alleged irregularities in Bihar.
