Shyam Saran Negi (1 July 1917 – 5 November 2022) was an Indian school teacher in
Kalpa, Himachal Pradesh
Kalpa is a small village in the Sutlej river valley, above Reckong Peo in the Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh, Northern India, in the Indian Himalaya. The region is inhabited by the Kinnauri people and is known for its apple orchards, as ...
, who cast the first vote in the
1951 general election in India — the nation's first election since the end of the
British Rule
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Quote: "Mill, who was hims ...
in 1947. Although most of the polling for that first election took place in February 1952, Himachal Pradesh went to the polls six months early because the weather there tends to be inclement in February and March and heavy snowfall during that period would have made it impossible for citizens to reach the polling stations.
[India's first voter in Himachal Pradesh]
by Gautam Dhmeer, in the ''Deccan Herald
''Deccan Herald'' is an Indian English language daily newspaper published from the Indian state of Karnataka. It was founded by K. N. Guruswamy, a liquor businessman from Ballari and was launched on 17 June 1948. It is published by The Print ...
''; published 30 October 2012; retrieved 7 April 2014 Negi was a member of the polling team and vividly recalled that he cast his first vote in Shonthong polling station and his polling party had to trek long distances to conduct polling in Purvani – Ribba – Moarang – Nesong over a period of 10 days. Negi cast the first vote on 25 October 1951. He voted in every general election since 1951 until his death, and is believed to be India's oldest voter as well as its first.
[ Shyam Saran Negi also made a special appearance in a Hindi film '']Sanam Re
''Sanam Re'' () is a 2016 Indian Hindi-language romantic drama film directed by Divya Khosla Kumar and produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar and co-produced by Ajay Kapoor. The film stars Pulkit Samrat, Yami Gautam and Urvashi Rautela, ...
''.
Negi died on 5 November 2022, at the age of 105, just three days after casting his vote for the 34th time. Following the news of his death, the Indian Government announced that Negi would be cremated with full state honours in Kalpa.
Honours
In 2010, the then Chief Election Commissioner of India
The Chief Election Commissioner of India heads the Election Commission of India, a body constitutionally empowered to conduct free and fair elections to the national and state legislatures and of President and Vice-President. This power of th ...
, Navin Chawla
Navin Chawla (born 30 July 1945) is a retired Indian civil servant and writer, who served as 16th Chief Election Commissioner of India. Four phases (out of five) of the Indian general election to Loksabha were executed under his supervision in ...
, visited Negi's village to honour him as part of the Election Commission's diamond jubilee celebrations.Google
Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...
India produced a public service announcement
A public service announcement (PSA) is a message in the public interest disseminated by the media without charge to raise public awareness and change behavior. In the UK, they are generally called a public information film (PIF); in Hong Kong, ...
in which Negi told of his participation in independent India's first election, and reminded viewers of the importance of voting.India's first voter beats Amitabh in virtual world
by Naresh K Thakur, in the ''Hindustan Times
''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media, an entity controlled by the KK Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia.
It was founded by Sunder Singh Ly ...
''; published 26 March 2014; retrieved 7 April 2014
References
External links
#PledgeToVote with Mr. Shyam Negi at
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
Shyam saran negi : some insites
{{DEFAULTSORT:Negi, Shyam Saran
1917 births
2022 deaths
Indian centenarians
Men centenarians
People from Kinnaur district
Indian schoolteachers
20th-century Indian educators
Himachal Pradesh University alumni