A 35-year-old homemaker from Bihar’s Siwan has found herself at the centre of a political controversy after Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and her team wore T-shirts with her face printed on them. Minta Devi’s image became part of the Congress’s “voter chori” campaign when electoral rolls wrongly recorded her age as 124 years. While Priyanka Gandhi says the case exposes the Election Commission’s errors, Minta Devi insists she never gave permission to use her photograph and calls it unwanted political interference.
From Rural Home to National Headlines
Minta Devi lives with her family in Prabhunath Nagar, Chhapra. She says her voter ID card mistakenly lists her birth year as 1900 instead of 1990, as shown on her Aadhaar card. This error has now drawn national attention, something she says her family neither wanted nor welcomed. NDTV traced her voter registration to the Daraunda Assembly constituency in Siwan.
Read More: INDIA Bloc Protests in T-Shirts Featuring ‘Minta Devi’, a 124-Year-Old Voter | WATCH
‘Mental Torture’ for the Family
Speaking to reporters, Minta Devi said she was “sad to be used politically” and wanted her voter ID corrected. She described the situation as “mental torture” for her husband, children, and in-laws. Since the story broke, she has received constant calls, and journalists have been turning up at her home.
Questioning Priyanka Gandhi’s Role
Minta Devi strongly objected to her image being printed on protest T-shirts without consent. “Who is Priyanka Gandhi to print my face and wear it? Why is she interfering?” she asked. She also questioned the idea that the Congress leader was acting in her support. “She is not my relative. She made my name and address public. How is this support?”
Read More: Will Bihar’s Voter List Survive Till Polls? SC Issues Stark Warning
Election Commission Response
The family has appealed to the Election Commission to fix the error immediately to protect their reputation. Election officials have defended their processes, saying the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in Bihar had not been conducted regularly since 2004. This, they said, allowed many “non-eligible persons” to obtain voter cards and, in some cases, hold multiple cards for different constituencies.
