Independent India\u2019s first voter Shyam Saran Negi passed away at the age of 106 early Saturday morning. Negi was a resident of Himachal Pradesh’s Kinnaur, who cast his postal ballot on November 2 for the\u00a0upcoming Himachal Pradesh assembly elections. As per reports, the 106-year-old was unwell at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Born on July 1, 1917, Negi worked as a schoolteacher in Kalpa. When India held its first general elections in 1951 after the end of\u00a0British rule in 1947, Negi was the first one to cast his vote on\u00a0October 25. Although most of the polling for that first election took\u00a0place in February 1952, Himachal went to the polls five months early\u00a0as the weather there tends to be inclement in February and March and\u00a0heavy snowfall during that period would have made it impossible for citizens to reach the polling stations. Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur has expressed grief over the demise of Master Shyam Saran Negi. State Chief Electoral Officer, Maneesh Garg also expressed his deep condolences on the demise of the country’s first voter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Independent India\u2019s first voter Shyam Saran Negi passed away at the age of 106 early Saturday morning. Negi was a resident of Himachal Pradesh’s Kinnaur, who cast his postal ballot on November 2 for the\u00a0upcoming Himachal Pradesh assembly elections. As per reports, the 106-year-old was unwell at the time. Born on July 1, 1917, Negi […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":9901,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":""},"categories":[2005],"tags":[4308,4127,4307,4306],"yoast_head":"\n
Shyam Saran Negi also made a special appearance in the Hindi film Sanam Re.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n