Poll panel chief meets one of independent India’s first voters

SHIMLA - Chief Election Commissioner Navin Chawla Saturday met Shyam Saran, who is believed to be among the first voters in independent India’s first general elections, in Himachal Pradesh’s Kinnaur district.

Saran, 93, was among the first to vote at the polling booth in Kinnaur’s Kalpa village Oct 23, 1951. The tribal residents of remote Kinnaur, Chamba and Lahaul and Spiti districts voted six months ahead of the rest of the nation for the first general elections in April 1952, so that snowfall did not deprive them of the privilege of exercising their franchise.

Chawla spent some time with Saran at Kalpa village, some 275 km from the state capital, and asked him about the changes he observed during the elections, an official accompanying Chawla told IANS.

Saran said the election process had undergone a noticeable change.

“Earlier, the elections used to be like a big festival. Now, the politicians are coming only when the elections are near and then disappearing,” Saran said.

The state election commission has a video recording of Saran casting his vote during the 2007 assembly elections at a polling booth located at an altitude of over 10,000 feet.