UP election: Samajwadi Party candidate from Ambedkarnagar suffers heart attack during rally, dies

Samajwadi Party’s Chandra Sekhar Kannuajia was holding a public meeting in Raje Sultanpur village of Ambedkarnagar when he suffered a cardiac arrest.

A Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate from Alapur constituency of Ambedkarnagar died after suffering a heart attack during campaigning on Sunday afternoon.

Samajwadi Party’s Chandra Sekhar Kannuajia was holding a public meeting in Raje Sultanpur village of Ambedkarnagar when he suffered a cardiac arrest. (ANI on Twitter)

Heera Lal Yadav, SP’s Ambedkarnagar district president, said the incident happened when Chandra Sekhar Kannuajia was holding a public meeting in Raje Sultanpur village at around 3.20pm. He said a huge crowd had turned up at the meeting and Kannuajia reportedly suffered a heart attack due to excitement and died before he was rushed to a nearby hospital.

SP president and chief minister Akhilesh Yadav had made 42-year-old the party candidate by dropping sitting MLA Bheem Prasad Sonker.

His death is being seen as a major setback to the SP. The state election commission will take a decision on whether the polling for the constituency will be held as per schedule or a new date will be announced.