Five poll personnel die due to heat-related ailments in UP

Uttar Pradesh recorded a polling percentage of 55.55 in the seventh and final phase of the Lok Sabha elections on Saturday, according to the Election Commission

Five poll duty personnel in Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow, Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, and Maharajganj districts died in the past 48 hours due to heat-related ailments, officials said.

A voter on a wheelchair shows his ink-marked finger after casting his vote for the last phase of Lok Sabha Polls at a polling station in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday. (CEO UP-x)

An armed police constable of PAC posted at Ramabai Ambedkar Ground in Lucknow guarding EVMs died on Saturday due to a suspected heat wave. Joint commissioner of police (law and order) Upendra Agarwal confirmed the constable’s death, but feigned ignorance over the reason for the death.

He said cooler and other facilities are there for cops on duty at Rama Bai Ambedkar ground, postmortem will reveal the cause of death. Due to continuous scorching heat, Agarwal enquired about the condition of the police personnel. He inspected the strong room and met the policemen who are continuously on duty in the strong room and instructed them to take precautions to avoid the scorching heat.

Agarwal inspected the strong room and instructed the policemen on duty there to avoid the scorching heat and do their duty carefully and enquired about their condition.

District commandant, home guard, Maharajganj, Vindhyachal Pathak, confirmed that Jai Bhagwan Goswami, 57, a resident of Baghpat district, who was on election duty at polling booth number 170 in Maharajganj on Friday morning fell ill before starting his duty and was admitted to CHC, where he was pronounced dead.

In another incident, home guard Veer Pal Singh, 55, a resident of Etah district, who was on election duty in Kushinagar district, fainted due to heat stroke and was admitted to BRD Medical College, where he died on Friday. Police station officer Ravindra Kumar Singh said that authorities had been informed to grant ex-gratia to the kin of the deceased. He added that the exact cause of death would be confirmed only after the postmortem report.

In a third incident, constable Surendar Singh, 52, who was currently posted at PRV, complained of a severe headache and was immediately rushed to BRD Medical College, where he passed away on Friday night.

Apart from these, Ram Nayan, 42, a driver of a private school bus acquired for transporting election duty employees, suffered a heat stroke while waiting to move with polling parties at DDU Gorakhpur University campus. He passed away at BRD Medical College Hospital in Gorakhpur.

Meanwhile, Sikandarpur sub-divisional magistrate of district Ballia Ravi Kumar said Rambachan Chauhan (70), a resident of Chak Bahuddin village, had gone to vote at booth number 257 of the village’s primary school under Salempur Lok Sabha constituency. Before joining the queue of voters, he suddenly fell unconscious and died, he added. However, the villagers said Chauhan felt dizzy while standing in the voters’ queue and fell unconscious.

In Robertsganj, Shanti Devi, the 42-year-old wife of Thakur Dayal Prapti, fainted in Ras Pahari of Myorpur block and was admitted to the government hospital in Myorpur. Another resident of the same locality, Gudiya, also fell unconscious due to the severe heat wave. After receiving treatment, she cast her vote, according to village head Sheetal Devi.

Uttar Pradesh recorded a polling percentage of 55.55 in the seventh and final phase of the Lok Sabha elections on Saturday, according to the Election Commission (EC)

(With agency inputs)