Mohini Bhawnani, 92, had decided not to vote this time because of her health. She changed her decision on Friday night but the home voting process of the Election Commission had closed on Thursday.

At 1pm on Saturday, Bhawnani went to cast her vote at Seventh Day Adventist Senior Secondary School on Park Street. She is a voter of the Kolkata South Lok Sabha constituency.

“I returned home from hospital at the end of April and since then has been under home care. I am extremely unwell and weak. So, had initially decided not to vote,” said Bhawnani, a retired BSNL employee who lives in an apartment on Park Street.

But she had not missed a single vote since she was 18. “So, I decided why should I miss it this time? I am still alive,” she said.

Bhawnani was taken to the polling booth in a car by her nephew along with her brother Mahadev Punjabi, 82.

“At the booth, the police allowed our car to be parked in front of the school, so I did not have to walk much with the help of a walker,” she said.

For Bhawnani, the key issue is unemployment in Bengal and across the country. She wants “a stable government at the Centre”.

“While coming out, one security person greeted me and said ‘I want to see you coming to vote after five years’. I will go to vote if I am alive,” said Bhawnani.