Opposition's '124 Not Out' poster girl is 35, blames EC for fault

PATNA: Minta Devi , the "124 Not Out" poster girl of INDIA bloc's "vote chori" protest in Delhi, surfaced Tuesday to declare she was 35 and blame the additional 89 years on a clerical typing error that led to her year of birth being recorded as 1900 instead of 1990.

The voter from Daraundha in Bihar 's Siwan also pointed out an even more bizarre data-entry error - her husband Dhananjay Kumar Singh's name as their "house number".

Also read: Oppn holds protest against SIR; MPs wear '124-year-old Minta Devi' T-shirts

"This is Election Commission 's fault. I submitted my documents online, but now everyone is asking about my age," she told reporters. Minta said she didn't notice the incorrect birth year on her voter card - "15-07-1900" - until after the controversy broke.



Siwan DM Aditya Prakash acknowledged the "typographical error", saying a computer operator was to blame. "The correction will be done within a week," he told TOI. Deputy election officer Sohail Ahmad confirmed that Minta had applied for rectification.

Bihar's SIR of the electoral rolls has revealed two other "centurions" - 120 and 119, based on official data. One is Asha Devi of Bhagalpur's Pirpainti. The other is Manturia Devi, in Barauli seat of Gopalganj. After the deputy election officer of Bhagalpur ordered an inquiry into Asha Devi's age, designated BLO Farzana Khatoon visited the location, checked her Aadhaar card and spoke to villagers to confirm that she was 120, states an official report.


Manturia Devi's age was also found correct after a "physical verification", according to a report filed Tuesday by the assistant electoral registration officer of Barauli.

Ethel Caterham, a 115-year-old British national, is officially recognised as the world's oldest living person.