Ajiben Chandravadia, a 126-year-old woman from Rajkot who is the 'oldest voter' in the world, on Saturday cast her vote in Gujarat Assembly elections. A mother of six daughters and a son, Ajiben was accompanied by her family members to the polling booth where she cast her vote.
According to Ajiben's voter ID card, made in 2007, her date of birth is January 1, 1891. As per these records, she is the oldest woman in the world.
Ajiben was recently honoured by the district administration, Dr Vikrant Pandey, Rajkot collector told DNA.
Ajiben Chandravadia showing her voter ID card that says she was born in 1891
"She is oldest voter in the world. As per my knowledge Japan had 117 yr old voter and Ajiben is 126 years old. We honoured her recently," he said.
A resident of Upleta town in Rajkot district, Ajiben does not use a walking stick, does not wear glasses and says she has never suffered any major illness. Ajiben claims that she has voted in every single election.
Ajiben was a midwife in her early years and her 68-year-old son Mehramanbhai claims that she had delivered over 700 healthy babies.
Ajiben Chandravadia cast her vote in Gujarat Assembly elections in Rajkot on Saturday
Last month, she had travelled four hours back and forth to ‘bless’ Gujarat Chief minister Vijay Rupani before he filed his nomination from Rajkot west constituency.
Polling for Gujarat Elections is taking place today with the votes being cast for the Phase 1 of the 182-seat Assembly. 30% voter turnout was recorded till 12 pm.
Rajkot has a high number of senior voters and 372 of them are over years. Of 20,64,759 voters in Rajkot district, 4,565 are between 90-100 years of age.
In a bid to motivate voters to come out and vote, Rajkot collector had organised an event ‘Coffee with Collector’ where these senior citizens were invited.
Last month, 100-year-old Shyam Saran Negi, dubbed as the first voter of independent India, had cast his vote in Himachal Pradesh Assembly election. He was among the first to vote in independent India's first Lok Sabha elections in October 1951 in Chini constituency as polling in the snow-bound area was held ahead of other places in the country.
