Family insists heart failure, police say suicide
BJP demands inquiry
EC cancels poll in Puran Chand Yogi’s Rajinder Nagar constituency

The sudden death of Puran Chand Yogi, 73, a three-time MLA from Rajinder Nagar, on Sunday morning has generated a controversy. While his family claimed Yogi died of a heart attack, the police said “initial investigations suggest it’s a suicide”.

Officers said they found a dupatta wrapped around Yogi’s neck, with its other end hanging from the ceiling fan of the room at his Inderpuri residence in South-West Delhi where the body was first spotted.

According to the police, Yogi had woken up at 5 am and asked his wife for the key to the room upstairs where he usually kept his party and election-related materials. He worked in the room for some time and then came down for tea and breakfast.

Malti Verma, BJP councillor from Ward Number 152, said Yogi had telephoned her at 7 am. “We were supposed to take out a pad yatra at Pandav Nagar. He asked me if all party workers would assemble at the venue by 9 am.”

After making the call, Yogi reportedly went to the room again, leaving his mobile phone downstairs. As the phone kept ringing, his wife, Asha, took it to him. The door was not bolted from inside and she walked in to find Yogi lying “unconscious” on the floor, Asha told the police. She immediately raised an alarm and a couple of party workers, who were waiting for Yogi downstairs, rushed to her help.

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