Elderly people brave hurdles for ballot

JAIPUR: Braving sweltering heat and lone queues, centenarians turned up in large numbers to cast their votes at several

polling

booths of the state on Monday.


For Veer Singh (114), a native of Raisinghnagar in Sriganganagar district,

voting

is a sacred ritual he has never missed in his life. Even the soaring heat failed to dampened 102-year-old Gurdaval Kaur’s spirit to exercise her vote in Suratgarh town of Sriganganagr district.

There were similar stories of senior citizens, many of them helped by their family members and scouts arriving at the polling booths to cast their votes. Many were given wheelchairs at the polling station, while others were provided chairs to wait for their turns.

At polling booths in Jaipur, many people waiting for their queues allowed senior citizens to first cast their votes. Gangaram (104) was elated at casting his votes in Jaipur on Monday.

“There were several stories of senior citizens across the state who braved many obstacles to reach the polling booth to cast their votes,” an election commission officer informed TOI.

There were stories like that of Manorma Bhargav (90) who is bed ridden for several years but has never missed a single election for last several years. Helped by his son, she cast her vote at Gandhi Nagar. She did not utter a word but with gestures signalled her happiness.

But for Mahendra Shukla (80) a retired engineer from Uttar Pradesh, the elections akin to his everyday trips to temple. “I have never missed an election ever since I became eligible for voting. I have seen many prime ministers and chief ministers, but I don’t think any of our PMs paid any heed to the demands of senior citizens. There are no security measures for people like me who live alone, and that makes me a bit sad,” he said.