Elderly man dies while casting vote in Odisha’s Balasore

Nilagiri (Balasore): An elderly man died while casting vote at a polling station at the Iswarpur area under Nilagiri Assembly Constituency in Odisha’s Balasore district.

The deceased person has been identified as Surendra Mohanty, aged about 80 years old.

According to reports, Mohanty accompanied by his wife visited booth no. 159 at Iswarpur panchayat in Nilagiri to exercise his franchise in the fourth and final phase of twin polls. While voting, he collapsed inside the polling booth.

The victim was immediately rushed to Iswarpur PHC where he was declared dead. He died due to suspected sunstroke.

“No arrangement had been made for senior citizens at the polling station. While standing in a queue, he fell ill due to extremely hot and humid weather conditions. Despite repeated approaches to the polling officials appealing for separate arrangements for elderly people, the latter asked him to stand in the general queue. He died due to extreme heat conditions,” alleged the deceased’s wife Basanti Mohanty.

The 7th or last phase (fourth phase in Odisha) of polling is underway in 6 Lok Sabha and 42 Assembly Constituencies in Odisha. By 9.00 am, the state registered 7.69% voter turnout.