India has 2.49 lakh voters aged above 100: CEC Rajiv Kumar

PUNE,

THERE are 2.49 lakh voters aged above 100 in India, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said on Wednesday.

Besides, 1.80 crore voters are over 80 years of age, Kumar said after flagging off a bicycle rally in Maharashtra’s Pune city on Wednesday to create an awareness about voter registration as part of the national level launch of a special summary revision of the voters’ list.

The Election Commission of India’s initiative is aimed at increasing the electoral rolls in urban areas.

Explaining the robustness and beauty of the Indian electoral rolls, Kumar said, the country has voters from the highest peaks of Himalayas, from the 6,000-km coastline in south, deserts in the west and regions from the east.

“You will be happy to know we have close to 2.49 lakh voters in our rolls who are (aged) 100 plus and what a relief and ecstasy it gives when you interact with them and find that they have been voting all through their lives,” he said.

Besides, there are 1.80 crore voters who are above 80 years of age, he told reporters after the rally. The CEC said, India’s first voter Shyam Saran Negi, who recently died, was 106 years old and voted through postal ballot just three days before his death. “That is the spirit,” he added.

Up to legislatures to take call on holding simultaneous polls: CEC: THE EC can “handle” simultaneous Lok Sabha and State Assembly polls, but it is up to legislatures to take a final decision on the issue, said CEC Rajiv Kumar on Wednesday. CEC Kumar said the subject of holding parliamentary and State Assembly polls at the same time does not fall in the ambit of the EC.