Independent India’s first voter, Shyam Saran Negi, who lives in Kalpa village in tribal district of Kinnaur in Himachal Pradesh, turns 100 on Saturday, 1 July.
An official from district administration at Reckong Peo went to Negi’s house to greet him on Saturday, said Deputy Commissioner, Kinnaur, Naresh Lath.
Negi was the first person to cast his vote at the polling booth in Chini tehsil in Kinnaur in 1951, when people in parts of HP were allowed to vote five months prior to first general elections slated for February 1952 in view of possibility of snowfall in tough areas.
Feeling proud of his contribution for democracy, Negi, a retired teacher, has never missed casting his vote over the decades.
He was the brand ambassador of Election Commission of India (ECI) in 2014 Lok Sabha polls.