102-Year-Old Casts Vote At Jammu Polling Booth

After he cast his vote, the centenarian showed his inked finger and posed for photos.

A 102-year-old man reached a polling booth in Jammu to cast his vote in the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections on Friday. A walking stick in hand, Haji Karam Din entered the polling station in Reasi district of the Jammu constituency with a family member who helped him through the pre-voting process.

After he cast his vote, the centenarian showed his inked finger and posed for photos outside the booth. “I am very happy to vote at this polling station at this age. I have voted every time. This journey is continuing even today at the age of 102,” he told news agency PTI.

“”This generation of youth is getting destroyed due to the drug menace. They are idle as there are no jobs. To tackle the drug menace in J&K, the government should provide jobs to the youth. Whichever government comes to power, they should provide jobs to save this young generation,” he said.

Reasi district is part of Jammu parliamentary constituency with more than 17.81 lakh electors eligible to cast their vote to decide the fate of 22 candidates.

Incumbent BJP MP Jugal Kishore Sharma is eyeing a third straight term after consecutive wins in 2014 and 2019 elections. His main contender is Congress candidate and former minister Raman Bhalla.

Voting started in the Jammu-Reasi Lok Sabha constituency with enthusiastic voters reaching the booths, some dressed in traditional Dogra dresses to cast their votes. 

Polling began at 7 am in 2,416 polling stations across the constituency and 10.39% votes were polled till 9 am. Jammu recorded a voter turnout of 74% in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

This is the first major election in Jammu after the abrogation of Article 370 and the bifurcation of the erstwhile state into two Union Territories five years ago.

With agency inputs