KOCHI: At 102, Vasudevan Nambudiri might be too old to walk around like younger people but his enthusiasm to exercise his franchise in the coming Lok Sabha elections has not waned a bit. “Though I did not vote in the last assembly elections, I will vote in the general elections,” says Nambudiri, who is a resident of Vennala.He is one among the 2,000 centenarians whose names have figured in the state electoral rolls published by the election commission. Despite age playing spoilsport, their faith in the elections is as strong as it was when they came out to vote decades ago. Nambudiri who has a sharp memory, fondly remembers T K Ramakrishnan who won the assembly elections seven times.But unlike Nambudiri, there are a few others like E P Parameswaran Moothathu, who are not so eager to cast their votes in the elections. Over the years, greedy, indifferent and corrupt politicians have ruined his trust in politics. “Today’s political parties do not have any principles. Nowadays, politicians have loads of money to hold campaigns across the state during elections. But earlier, they did not have so much money. They would hold just a couple of meetings in junctions and we used to go there to hear their words,” says Moothathu who resides near Paliam Road in Ernakulam Meanwhile, the current voters list has 52,984 nonagenarians in the state. Thiruvananthapuram accounts for a majority of voters who are between 90-99 years old. The district features more than 6,800 nonagenarian voters. It is followed by Ernakulam and Kottayam with more than 5,300 and 4,800 nonagenarian voters, respectively. Thrissur boasts of 4,400 nonagenarians in the voters list. However, Malappuram , the most populous district in the state, has only 3,500 nonagenarians in the list.Among the lists of senior citizen voters include veteran leaders like V S Achuthanandan (95) and K R Gowri (101).“Achuthanandan exercised franchise for the first time during the Travancore assembly elections held in 1948. Ever since, he has voted in all elections,” says an official associated with Achuthanandan’s office.Jose, Gowri’s driver, says the veteran politician always prefers to go to the polling booth alone.“I have been with her for more than 12 years. She prefers to go alone to vote and does not use VIP status at the polling booths. She would stand in the queue,” says Jose.This year, the electoral officers would provide wheelchairs and assistance of volunteers for elderly voters in the polling stations. “Senior voters will get priority in polling booths. They will not be asked to wait for long in queues. We will provide transportation facility and wheelchair assistance for inmates of old age homes,” says Teeka Ram Meena, chief electoral officer of Kerala.

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