Minta Devi

Some Lesser Known Facts About Minta Devi

• Minta Devi was born in a middle-class family in Bihar, India.

• She had never voted before and applied for a voter ID card online through a cyber café in 2025 after repeated failed attempts via Booth Level Officers (BLOs).

• Her husband, Dhananjay Kumar Singh, filled the online application (Form-06), but the date of birth was erroneously entered as 15 July 1900, listing her age as 124 on the draft electoral roll.

  

• The discrepancy was first noticed when Minta Devi received her voter ID card, although she did not check it carefully at the time.

• The Siwan District Magistrate’s office and the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) confirmed it was a human error, and the process for correction started immediately.

• She submitted Form-8 on 10 August 2025, and the correction is being processed as per election guidelines. Her father-in-law noted that BLOs did not conduct door-to-door verification, which may have contributed to such errors.

• On 12 August 2025, several INDIA bloc MPs, including Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Mallikarjun Kharge, Derek O’Brien, TR Baalu, and Supriya Sule, staged a protest at the Parliament complex against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls.

  

• They wore white T-shirts featuring Minta Devi’s photo with the slogan “124 Not Out”, highlighting her erroneously listed age. The protest alleged voter fraud and selective disenfranchisement, calling the SIR process “vote chori” (voter theft).

  

• Minta Devi clarified she had never authorised the use of her image, criticised the clerical error, and requested a fresh voter ID. She noted that the Election Commission should rectify the mistake.

  

• She joked that if she were truly considered 124 years old, she should start receiving old-age pension benefits.

• Union Minister Kiren Rijiju criticized Congress and Opposition MPs for mocking Minta Devi, asking if Congress would apologise.

• He also referenced prior voter list irregularities during Congress’s tenure in Karnataka. Congress leaders, including Pawan Khera and K.C. Venugopal, used social media to highlight the incident, sarcastically framing it as a “world record” for India’s oldest voter.

  

• The Indian Express reported two similar cases in Bihar. Asha Devi in Pirpainti Assembly, Bhagalpur, was verified to be 120 years old. Mantruria Devi in Gopalganj, verified to be 119 years old, has been previously listed in voter rolls since 2003.

• The Minta Devi incident became a national symbol for alleged irregularities in Bihar’s voter list revision, highlighting clerical mistakes, challenges in verification during SIR, and political disputes over the integrity of the electoral process.