In a tragic incident, an elderly man standing in a queue at a polling booth in UP's Ballia collapsed and died on the spot on Saturday. The death is attributed to an extreme heatwave sweeping the region amid polling in 13 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state.
As per reports, the incident took place at polling booth number 257 in the primary school of Chakbahuddin village, located in the Pakri area. The deceased has been identified as 65-year-old Ram Bachan Chauhan.
Despite immediate efforts by those present to rush Chauhan to the hospital, he was declared dead upon arrival.
In the purported video of the incident, a few men can be seen carrying Chauhan to a bed as confusion and fear grip others over what happened to him.
Watch the video here:
Amid the persistent intense heatwave, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday issued necessary guidelines for the administration in the state.
In recent days, the state has been experiencing severe heatwaves, with temperatures rising steadily. In such a situation, the Chief Minister instructed that strong arrangements should be made at every level for the safety of the common people, livestock, and wildlife.
Voting underway
The seventh and final phase of polling in the largest festival of democracy started on Saturday at 7 am in the last 57 parliamentary constituencies across seven states and the Union Territory of Chandigarh.
According to the Election Commission of India, over 10.06 crore electors, including approximately 5.24 crore males, 4.82 crore females, and 3,574 third-gender electors, are expected to exercise their franchise.
The parliamentary seats where polling will take place in Uttar Pradesh are Maharajganj, Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Deoria, Bansgaon (SC), Ghosi, Salempur, Ballia, Ghazipur, Chandauli, Varanasi, Mirzapur, and Robertsganj (SC), spread across 11 districts.
Among the prominent Lok Sabha seats in this phase are Modi's Varanasi, Gorakhpur, which has been represented by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath five times, and Chandauli, Maharajganj, and Mirzapur, from where Union ministers Mahendra Nath Pandey, Pankaj Chaudhary, and Anupriya Patel are contesting.
