Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, Bengal’s eldest voter Haradhan Saha passed away at 115 years, at the courtyard temple, adjacent to his residence in Molandighi in West Burdwan last evening.
State panchayat and rural development minister Pradip Majumdar condoled Saha’s death and visited Saha’s bereaved family today and offered floral tribute to Saha’s mortal remains. The minister said, “He remained an inspiration to the south Bengal voters, since long and the state will forever remember such a punctual and disciplined voter.”
Saha was born in 1911, at Saraswati Kunj village inside the Molandighi jungles in Kanksa PS area of undivided Burdwan in a farmer family. During the last panchayat election, the district administration had felicitated Saha at his residence. He’d claimed that he’d cast his franchises in every election of Independent India. Once he was assigned to contest Assembly election from the erstwhile Kanksa seat by the Congress, which however was altered in favour of his son Shibnarayan Saha. The deceased’s grandson Nityananda remained as Saha’s caregiver for last 15 years. He said, “Dadu was highly ambitious to cast his vote in this year’s Lok Sabha and he kept inquiring whether the election dates had been declared.”
Family members said that Haradhan Saha, father of 11 children, was suffering from age-related ailments for last four months and finally breathed his last on Wednesday evening. His eldest son Shibnarayan died four years ago.
At poet Joydev’s Kadambakhandi Ghat by the Ajay river in neighbouring Birbhum, Saha was cremated this afternoon.