Himachal election: India's oldest voter Shyam Saran Negi proudly shows his inked finger

101-year-old Shyam Saran Negi,believed to be the oldest and the first voter of independent India, exercised his franchise today during the voting in thehill state of Himachal Pradesh. The government had madespecial arrangement for Negiat Kalpa polling booth in tribal Kinnaur constituency.

People who came out to vote waited anxiously for Negi to arrive at the polling booth. It was a morning as unual for Negi as he got ready to cast his vote.

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Negi, a retired schoolteacher, was born in July 1917 and has never missed an opportunity to cast his vote.

Hevotedin the independentIndia's first ever election held in 1951 at a polling station in Kinnaur.

Though the election took place in February 1952, residents of Himachal Pradesh voted five months earlyto avoid the difficulty of votingduringsnow fall.

Negi says that he has voted in every election thatheld in the country since 1951.

He was honoured with an invitationto be a part of the Election Commission diamond jubilee celebrations in 2010.

In 2014, he talked about his experience of the first electionin the Google India's public service announcement.

Meanwhile,at the age of 83, Virbhadra Singh, India's oldest chief ministeris heading to contest his seventhterm election.