Rajasthan chief electoral officer Praveen Gupta has been hospitalised on complaints of problems in breathing and chest pain. He has been admitted in ICU of SMS hospital under supervision of Dr Sudhir Mehta, who had treated him earlier also .
Principal of SMS Medical College and Hospital Rajeev Bagarhatta, SMS hospital superintendent Achal Sharma and all senior doctors are there to attend him and provide him the relief. Rajasthan goes for poll on April 19 and April 26 in two phases.
Praveen Gupta admitted third time in last 5 months
This is for the third time, Praveen Gupta has been admitted in hospital in last five months. On November 28, 2023 – four days before the counting of assembly polls – Praveen Gupta was admitted first time in hospital on complaints of hynoxia. At that time doctors have found that some food particles had stuck in his respiratory passage. He was then also treated by Dr Sudhir Mehta. Gupta was discharged on the same day.
On the second occasion, Praveen Gupta was admitted on December 30, 2023 on complaints of allergy and restless. The allergy was due to drug reaction and red spots had appeared on his body. Dr Pradeep Mittal had treated him that time.
Gupta is one man army in Election Commision
Unlike other states where election commission has IAS officers as additional chief electoral officers, Rajasthan is being driven single handedly by Praveen Gupta. IAS Krishna Kunal was appointed as additional chief electoral officer in November 2019. He was then relieved from the position in September 2023 – two months before the assembly elections. Since then the post is vacant.
According to sources in election commission, Praveen Gupta believes in perfection. He has been doing great job in ensuring maximum participation of electorates. The successful completion of assembly election is an example.
“Tremendous work pressure and stress might have taken its toll on Praveen Gupta's health. He has been working for long hours altogether for at least one year continuously.
Ram Kumar Kaushik is a seasoned journalist with over 25 years of experience across mediums. The architect of this news website, he is also a consultant with several media groups. He was formerly the group managing editor of ITV Network (NewsX, India News and The Sunday Guardian) and its digital products.
