Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Saturday left for Kalpa in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh to meet the bereaved family of Shyam Saran Negi's, the "first voter of independent India" who passed away today at the age of 106.
A role model, he had always actively participated in the festival of democracy. This was the 34th time he had voted, for the state Assembly elections without ever missing an opportunity to exercise his right to vote.
The 106-year-old asked the people of the country to exercise their right to franchise to strengthen the democratic set up.
Shyam Saran Negi, believed to be India's first voter at 105 years of age, cast his vote on Wednesday in the Kinnaur assembly constituency in Himachal Pradesh.
In Kullu district, a bridegroom inspired many by exercising his right to the franchise before leaving for the venue of his marriage.
Shyam Saran Negi’s daughter-in-law, Surma Negi, who accompanied him, told The Statesman over the phone that her father-in-law, despite the old age, made it a point not to miss voting this time too.
102-yr old Shyam Saran Negi, a government school teacher, who retired in 1975, was the first to vote in independent India’s first Lok Sabha elections in October 1951 in Chini constituency, later renamed Kinnaur.
A 2014 YouTube video of Shyam Saran Negi urging people to vote has been viewed nearly 2.9 million times till now
Shyam Saran Negi has filed a complaint on the issue with the Election Commission
Shyam Saran Negi, Himachal Pradesh’s oldest voter aged 100, and his wife on Thursday cast their votes at a picturesque…
