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104-Year-Old Shyam Saran Negi, India's First Voter, Casts His Vote In Mandi Lok Sabha Bypoll In Himachal Pradesh
Shyam Saran Negi
Shyam Saran Negi, first voter in the history of independent India, casted his vote in the Mandi parliamentary by-poll at the model polling station of Kalpa in the Kinnaur district of the hilly state of Himachal Pradesh on Saturday.
Currently aged 104 years, Negi had first voted in elections way back in 1951!
On Saturday, he was warmly greeted by Kinnaur Deputy Commissioner Apoorv Devgan as the district administration laid out a red carpet to welcome the veteran voter.
Moreover, traditional musical instruments were also played in the background to celebrate this momentous occasion.
Negi is a retired school teacher and was born on 1st July, 1917.
The first general elections in India were held in 1952. But, the voting for the remote and tribal areas of Himachal Pradesh were carried out five months in advance in October 1951 itself as the tough weather conditions would have hampered the electoral process in the winter months.
Back then, Negi was a school teacher and thus put on election duty as well. Hence, he had reached his polling booth at the Kalpa Primary School in Kinnaur at 7 am in the morning and thus was the first person to cast his vote in India.
Since then, Negi has never missed voting in even a panchayat, assembly or Lok Sabha polls.
Negi said everyone should vote for the development of the country and for electing a clean government, Economic Times reports.
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