Nagpur: Heads turned and people smiled as the world’s shortest woman, Jyoti Kishanji Amge, turned up to cast her vote in the Lok Sabha elections, in Nagpur on Friday morning.
A beaming but tad shy, Jyoti — who is all of 62.8 cm (2 feet, 7 inch) tall — arrived with her family members carrying her in arms to avoid the huge crowds at the polling station in a school near her home.
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As soon as she reached the venue, attired in a glowing red Barbie-style dress, wearing blood-red lipstick and some trinkets on her fingers and wrists, the paparazzi virtually mobbed her till she entered the polling booth, giggling at all the commotion and attention lavished on her.
“This is my second Lok Sabha election voting, and I have already voted twice, even for the Maharashtra Assembly elections… I always exercise my right to vote and it is also my duty to the country,” a thrilled Jyoti told the media after casting her vote, proudly displaying her tiny inked finger.
Just last month, as a global celeb in her own right, Nagpur-born Jyoti had made a fervent appeal on behalf of the Election Commission of India (ECI) and Maharashtra Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), urging people to vote.
“Voting is our duty and right… With our vote, we can ensure that we elect a good leader to represent us,” said the 30-year-old petite dame, who is the Brand Ambassador for Missionsky India Human Rights Association.
Incidentally, on her 18th birthday on December 16, 2011, Jyoti was officially declared the shortest living woman on the planet by the Guinness World Records, catapulting her to instant stardom, and making her a darling of India’s Orange City.
Her vertical growth is stunted owing to a genetic condition called ‘primordial dwarfism’, but she has stood tall and worked in Indian and Hollywood films, and television shows. She was the subject of documentaries and media articles world over.
In the first phase, polling is being held in five Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra, including Nagpur, Ramtek, Chandrapur, Bhandara-Gondia, and Gadchiroli-Chimur.
Nagpur Lok Sabha seat is witnessing a contest between BJP’s Nitin Gadkari and Congress’ Vikas Thakre, who is currently the Nagpur West MLA.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Gadkari registered victory with a massive vote share of 55.7 per cent. He defeated the current Maharashtra Congress President, Nana Patole, with a victory margin of 2,16,009 votes. Gadkari also defeated Congress leader Vilas Muttemwar by a margin of 2,84,828 votes in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won 23 out of 25 seats it contested in alliance with the undivided Shiv Sena. Elections to the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra will be held in five phases. The counting of votes will be held on June 4.
