106-year-old Shyam Saran Negi, the first voter of Independent India died early on Saturday morning. Shyam Saran Negi died just a few days after exercising his right to franchise for the 34th time for the Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections through a postal ballot at his residence in Kinnaur district. As per reports, the 106-year-old was unwell at the time.
Following his death, District Collector, Kinnaur Abid Hussain has said that the district administration is making all the possible arrangements for his funeral, and also a band is being arranged to honourably bid him farewell.
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Himachal Pradesh CM Jai Ram Thakur also took to his Twitter account and expressed sadness at Shyam Saran Negi's death. He wrote, "Saddened to hear the news of the demise of Shyam Saran Negi ji, the first voter of independent India and who belonged to Kinnaur. While performing his duty, he cast his postal vote for the assembly elections for the 34th time on November 2, this memory will always be emotional. Peace!" (translated from Hindi)
He wrote in a follow-up tweet, "May God bless his virtuous soul at his feet and give strength to the bereaved family members. Peace!"
Check out the tweet here.
Shyam Saran Negi, a teacher by profession who hails from the tribal district of Kinnaur in Himachal Pradesh, was born in July 1917 and voted for the first time in 1951 in the general elections of India and has voted sixteen times in Lok Sabha Elections.
He cast his vote in every Lok Sabha, Vidhan Sabha, and all local bodies right after 1951. He was also made a state election icon in 2014.
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Popularly known as Master Shyam Saran, the centenarian has voted in every election since 1951 and has never missed an opportunity to vote.
After casting his vote, Negi said on Wednesday that every citizen should vote for strengthening the democratic setup. "The young voters should consider their duty to vote and contribute to strengthening the Nation," he said, adding that we should feel proud of our voting right as it helps in choosing the right representative to lead the Nation.
Meanwhile, as many as 5,093 people have cast their vote through the postal ballot in Himachal Pradesh for the Assembly elections. Voting by postal ballot commenced on November 1 and will be completed before November 11. Himachal Pradesh is all set to go to polls on November 12, the results of which will be declared on December 8.
