Barley a week after the Supreme Court observed that those who don't vote have "no right" to question or blame the Government, a 102-year-old woman set an example for others by casting her vote in the first-phase panchayat elections in the State on Monday.
Malli Baral, a resident of Kusunupur under Kurujang gram panchayat in Mahanga block in Cuttack district, was among the thousands of voters who queued up to exercise her franchise.
Baral, who has attended public meetings of Mahatma Gandhi at Salaro in Kendrapada district during the latter's Odisha visit, was perhaps the oldest woman in the State to cast her vote during the first phase of polling at booth number 13. The grand old woman was brought to the polling station at the Kusunupur Primary School on a wheelchair by her son to assert her democratic right.
"I am happy that I cast my vote at such an age. I never thought that I would live to assert my democratic right, for which Mahatma Gandhi had fought for years. It's my duty and should be the duty of every citizen to vote," said Baral. In fact, thousands of senior citizens and many disabled people also exercised their franchise on the day, setting an example for youths who have been avoiding in participating in the election process for several reasons