‘Who are Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi to me?’: Bihar’s Minta Devi responds to Opposition’s t-shirt protest

Several INDIA bloc MPs, including Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, were seen wearing T-shirts featuring a photo of Minta Devi, a voter from Bihar's Siwan district, on Tuesday as they staged a protest in the Parliament House complex against the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in Bihar.

 

The protesters have alleged that Minta Devi's age has been recorded as 124 in the draft voters’ list, as they sought to emphasise their allegation of widespread irregularities in the list.

 

Now, Minta Devi has responded to the Opposition’s protest and also questioned their use of her name and age for political purposes.

 

"I came to know about this 2-4 days back... Who are they (Opposition MPs) to me? Who are Priyanka Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi to me? Who gave them the right to wear T-shirts featuring me?,” she asked while talking to ANI news agency.

 

“Why are they becoming my well-wisher over my age? This should not be done, I do not want this," she said. 

 

Minta Devi also criticised the Election Commission over the alleged discrepancies in the draft voters’ list and demanded that they be corrected.

 

“Whoever entered the details, did they do so with their eyes closed?... If I am 124 years old in the eyes of the government, why are they not giving me old-age pension? My Aadhaar Card mentions 15-07-1990 as my date of birth," she further said.

 

The Opposition has been demanding a rollback of the Bihar SIR exercise. The INDIA bloc parties have also been targeting the poll panel and the Narendra Modi government over the alleged ‘vote theft’ and poll rigging in several states, with the parliament witnessing repeated adjournments and disruptions over the last week.

India