Three poll officials die in Madhya Pradesh

Three government employees including a woman engaged in poll duty died in separate incidents in Madhya Pradesh, an official said on Monday (April 29).

Sunanda Kotekar, 50, who was deployed at Lodhikheda polling booth in Saunsar area of Chhindwara Lok Sabha seat, felt uneasy on Sunday night, state chief electoral officer V L Kantha Rao said.

Kotekar, who along with other polling personnel of the polling reached the booth early on Sunday, died of cardiac arrest even before she could be provided any medical assistance, he said.

In another incident, an assistant sub-inspector deployed on poll security duty died after suffering a heart attack in Sidhi district on Monday morning, Rao said. Besides, a poll staffer posted at Seoni in Balaghat Lok Sabha seat suffered brain hemorrhage and succumbed to it on Sunday evening, he said.

Polling was underway on Monday morning for elections in the state’s six Lok Sabha seats – Sidhi, Shahdol, Jabalpur, Mandla, Balaghat and Chhindwara – and bypoll to Chhindwara Assembly constituency, where Chief Minister Kamal Nath is in the fray.

Incidentally, about 272 poll officials have died in Indonesia due to fatigue related illnesses caused by long hours of counting of millions of ballot papers.