13 October,2009 11:04 AM IST | | Vivek Sabnis
Mahadev Gokhale (103) will cast his vote for the 35th time in his life today
If you need inspiration to step out to vote today, here is one. Mahadev Kashinath Gokhale is 103 years old and bound by a wheelchair, but will vote for the 35th time in his life during the Assembly election today.
"I will cast my vote to a party that is working for my constituency," said Gokhale. He added that he'd cast his vote inside room number 31 at L R Shinde Vidyalaya in Sahakarnagar the booth where he voted during the Lok Sabha election. The centenarian is proud that he has unfailingly voted during every election since he was 21 years old. "I vividly remember my first voting at a school on Tilak Road in Peru Gate area in 1918," explained Gokhale.
He is one of the few people alive to have seen Lokmanya Tilak and Mahatma Gandhi during the freedom struggle.
Noted writer Dr N M Joshi, who has written Gokhale's biography, said, "I was inspired by his social and political consciousness. He used to keep in touch with the late Jayantrao Tilak, editor of Kesari, and grandfather of Rohit Tilak, the Congress candidate from Kasba."
Gokhale used to work as a newspaper vendor and book binder. He has also cycled from Pune to Mansarovar.
