Last rites of the country's first voter: The funeral procession of 106-year-old Shyam Sharan Negi begins, the body was carried wrapped in the tricolor

Posted on 5th Nov 2022 by rohit kumar

Shyam Saran Negi, India's first voter, has left on his last journey. Negi's last rites will be performed with state honors in his native village in Kinnaur. His mortal remains were wrapped in the tricolor and carried to Shamsham Ghat. During this, the entire village and the officials of the Election Department were also present. Negi is being given a final farewell with full respect.

 

Let us inform you that Shyam Saran Negi, a 106-year-old resident of Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh, breathed his last at around 2 pm on Friday. After independence, when the first general elections were held in India in 1951-52, Shyam Saran Negi was the first to vote in it.

 

Voting from home due to ill health

District Election Officer Abid Hussain said that Negi had expressed his desire to cast his vote by going to the polling booth for the 2022 Himachal Assembly elections, but due to ill health, the voting was done through postal ballot paper at his home. In this way, he went after fulfilling his duty even before leaving the world.

 

The last farewell will be given by the police band

The District Election Officer said that Negi would be cremated with a police band and with full state honors. At the same time, the District Election Officer and the entire team administration will go to his house to pay tribute.

 

PM Modi expressed grief

Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the death of Negi by tweeting. He appreciated Shyam Saran Negi and described him as an important link in strengthening the democracy of the country. He wrote that Negi's enthusiasm to cast his vote encourages our young voters.

 

Voting is done continuously after 1951

Shyam Saran Negi of Kinnaur was the first to vote in the first general election of independent India held in 1951, hence he is considered to be the oldest and the first voter in the country. Since then today Negi has come to the booth in every election and cast his vote.

 

District Election Officer Abid Hussain said that Negi is a legend not only of the state but of the country. From 1951 till today, he has been casting his vote continuously. It is a matter of happiness that even in this assembly election, he has played an important role in the great festival of democracy by casting his vote.

 

The story of becoming the first voter is very interesting

Shyam Sharan Negi was born in 1917 in Kalpa village of Kinnaur district. 104-year-old Shyam Sharan lives in his ancestral village. From 1940 to 1946, he worked as a guard in the Forest Department. After that, he went to the education department and became a teacher at Kalpa Lower Middle School. The first Lok Sabha elections were held in the country in 1952. But due to heavy snowfall in Kinnaur, elections were held 6 months back in October 1951.

 

At the time of the first election, Shyam Sharan was a teacher at Moorang School in Kinnaur. His duty was to get the elections done, but he was so fond of voting and the duty was in Shongthong's Murang and the vote was to be cast in Kalpa, so he voted early in the morning and sought permission to go on duty. He reached his polling place early in the morning. The polling party reached at 6:15.

 

Negi requested early voting. The polling party opened the register and gave them the slip. History was made as soon as voting was done and Shyam Sharan Negi became the first voter of independent India.

 

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