Punjab’s ‘club of 100’ has over 5K voters, ready to get inked

KEHAR SINGH eats on his own, walks around his house and even goes for short strolls nearby. The Ludhiana resident, who celebrated his 107th birthday on January 1, is among the 5,162 voters in Punjab aged over 100. His son Avtar Singh said, “Now he has some hearing issue. Otherwise, going by his age, he is maintaining himself well.” The family lives in Lohara village.

A farmer by profession, Kehar has two sons and three daughters besides 12 grandchildren. His wife died a few years ago. Kehar said he was aware of the Lok Sabha elections, but could not express much about politics or the candidates in contention. “Now bapuji has grown old and he votes for the party that the entire family chooses. In 2019, he was a bit more active. Now he is hale and hearty and is aware enough to vote, which is more important,” Avtar said.

Though there is an option for staff on election duty to visit him at home to help him cast the vote, Kehar's family said he will go to the booth along with family members. "A simple diet is the key to his long life. He eats seasonal vegetables and roti in the afternoon, and has roti dipped in milk for dinner.

Gurnam Kaur, 108, resides in Dallanwal village, Malerkotla district. Her husband died about four decades ago. A mother to three sons and two daughters, Gurnam recognises her family members very well. Her elder son Boota Singh is no more and she stays with the family of another son Sucha Singh. Kaur can walk with support and eats simple dal-roti. She too prefers to go to the booth to cast her vote along with family members instead of casting it at home.

Hamiro, 110, lost her husband Bhana Ram about six years ago. Faqir Chand, her grandson, said, “We are from the Bazigar community. My grandfather had migrated from Pakistan to settle here. We are daily wagers.” The family lives in Jalla village in Ludhiana’s Payal which falls under the Fatehgarh Sahib LS seat.

Faqir said, “My uncle Jaimal Singhwasvillagesarpanchtillfive years ago. Hence, we are well aware of the importance of casting our votes and my grandmother will definitely cast her vote. We will take her to the booth."

Hamiro has two sons and a daughter. Her husband was also over 110 years old when he died six years ago. "A simple vegetarian diet with a lot of manual work seems to be the key to their long lives. Otherwise, we are not rich enough to follow any diet or take specific nutrition," said Faqir.

Major Singh is 101 years old and resides in Ludhiana’s Basuwal village. He now has vision problems but his grandson Lakhbir Singh said, “Because of his age, we are not doing the surgery. Otherwise, he can move around the house and do his chores by himself. But one person always stays around him. We are marginal farmers with only two acres of land, but my grandfather had always been voting. He must have seen plenty of elections and is eager to vote even now. We too get encouraged to cast our vote because of him.”

An Amritdhari Sikh, Singh has three sons and a daughter, grandchildren and great-grandchildren as well. “We don’t find much change in the political scenario over the years. Unemployment has increased, but one’s vote has to be cast,” Lakhbir added.

A resident of Dewankhera village in Fazilka, Kahno Devi is 101 years old. On June 1, she will be accompanied by her son and grandson to the booth. So is the case with 100-year-old Mallan of

Malukpur village in the district.

As per the instructions from the EC, voters aged 85 and above have the option to cast their vote at home. Nevertheless, several such voters come to the booths with family members and they are also honoured for exercising their franchise.

Talking to The Indian Express, Ludhiana deputy commissioner Sakshi Sawhney said, “We are appealing to people to exercise their right to vote. We are reaching out to the elderly to know if they wish to vote at home or in the polling booth. We are happy to see their encouraging response."

Malerkotla deputy commissioner Dr Palavi added, “It is good that the elderly can be a source of inspiration for the young voters as they are still enthusiastic to vote at this age.”

Punjab has a total of 2.13 crore voters, of which 1.12 crore are male, and 1.01 crore are female while 754 are transgenders. A total of 5,162 voters are above the age of 100. As per EC, at 727, Khadoorsahibhasthemostnumber of voters aged above 100 followed by Patiala (458), Ludhiana (438), Hoshiarpur (430), Faridkot (413) and Ferozepur (407).