3-4 EC officials died of heart attack, says CEC SY Quraishi

NEW DELHI: Conducting elections is a high-stress job and the stress on Election Commission (EC) officials resulted in fatal heart attacks to at least four officers during recent assembly elections in five states, Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi said here today.

Quraishi said this at a function here after he was praised for conducting free and fair elections.

"Three-four of our officers, presiding officers, had a heart attack on the day of polling and died. That is the kind of tension they go through," Quraishi said to a gathering at a award function organised by the Media Foundation.

"This (EC)team has more than eleven members and this election was conducted by 18 lakh people and each of them allowed a margin for zero error because one error could lead to a repoll and violence," Quraishi said.

Quraishi said EC officials were virtually sitting ducks in Maoist-hit areas.