Six pilgrims--who were the family members and relatives--of a Samajwadi Party legislator, Sanatan Pandey died in a road mishap near Tirupati in wee hours on Sunday.
Their driver too died while four others on the van was injured. The accident occurred when the van they were traveling in collided with a truck at Mallavaram village, about 20 km from Tirupati.
The victims it was reported were resident of Lucknow.
The accident occurred around 5 am when the 10-member family was on their way to famous hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala near Tirupati. They were going to the shrine from Chennai.
The victims were identified as Meera (40), Seva Pandey (46), Anand (10), Riddi (7), Sunil (45) and the van driver Rajesh (35).
According to a Samajwadi Party press statement, the victims are-daughter of Samajwadi Party MLA Sanatan Pandey from Chilkehar constituency in Ballia, his brother, Seva Pandey, Seva Pandey's wife, son, two other relatives and their driver.
The party president, Mulayam Singh Yadav expressed grief over the death and tragic accident.