U.P. panchayat elections turned deadly for those on duty

Polls were held in 4 phases with 12.96 crore registered voters and over 2 lakh voting booths even as COVID-19 infections were peaking

Ram Krishna Pandey feels his father Pankaj Pandey’s death could have been averted had the Uttar Pradesh panchayat polls been postponed keeping in mind the second wave of COVID-19. Pankaj Pandey, a head clerk with the Basic Education Department in Pratapgarh, died on April 26 after suffering from COVID-19-related complications and a drop in his oxygen levels. While the disease got his father, Mr. Ram Krishna blames the situation in which his father was forced to work. “He died because of the election,” said Mr. Ram Krishna, a graduation student in Allahabad University. “The election should not have taken place now. It could have been delayed or held along with the Bihar polls last year.” Like thousands of teachers in the State, Mr. Ram’s father was also assigned polling duty in the three-tier panchayat polls, voting for which concluded on Thursday. The numbers explain the massive scale of the polls: 12.96 crore registered voters and over 2 lakh voting booths and 80,762 voting centres spread across the State in four phases during the peak of the coronavirus infections. Over 2.43 lakh officials and staff were assigned duties for the polls, according to the State Election Commission (SEC).