Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai) - Live

INDIA’S 1ST EVER VOTER DIES DAYS AFTER CASTING HIS LAST BALLOT

- Gaurav Bisht

SHIMLA: Shyam Saran Negi, independen­t India’s first and oldest voter who over the last decade became an icon for participat­ory democracy, died at the age of 105 on Saturday, officials said.

Negi, who voted for the Himachal Pradesh assembly elections on Wednesday, died of natural causes in the small hamlet of Kalpa in Kinnaur, roughly 265kms from the state capital Shimla.

“Negi ji was an icon for voters not only in the state but across the country. Unfortunat­ely, he was not keeping well for the past few days due to age-related ailments,” Kinnaur deputy commission­er Abid Hussain Sadiq said, announcing his death.

Negi, popular as masterji in the village of fewer than 2,000 people, was a schoolteac­her and had been an ambassador for the Election Commission.

Till this year, Negi would visit the local polling centre but chose to vote from home this time due to ill-health, making use of the postal ballot option. Since last month, the EC has allowed citizens above the age of 80 in the state to vote using postal ballots.

Negi was unaware of his status as the country’s first voter until the Election Commission tracked him down in July 2007.

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