“Fourteen people, including 10 polling personnel, have died due to heatstroke in Bihar in the last 24 hours,” officials said on May 31. In a statement issued by the Disaster Management Department, most of the fatalities were reported from Bhojpur, where five officials on election duty died of heatstroke.
“Three election officials died in Rohtas, and one each died in Kaimur and Aurangabad districts. Four other people died in various parts of the State,” it said. “The process of granting ex-gratia to the families of the deceased has been initiated,” added the statement.
The State is reeling under sizzling heat as the mercury crossed 44 degrees Celsius at several places. On May 30, Buxar was the hottest at 47.1 degrees Celsius. Due to the heatwave conditions, all schools, coaching institutes and anganwadi centres were shut till June 8.
In a post on X, Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav said, "When government-run schools have already been closed because of pressure from the Opposition, why are teachers being asked to come to schools in this intense heat wave conditions? What will teachers do when students themselves are not in school? Teachers must be given leave in this scorching heat." Elections to the 40 Lok Sabha seats were being held over seven phases, with polling in eight seats scheduled on June 1.
