Lucknow: A television debate show in Uttar Pradesh ended in horror after a spectator set himself ablaze and embraced a local politician, leaving both men fighting for their lives, the police said today.
The election show on national TV channel Doordarshan was being recorded in a park on Monday in Sultanpur, a town about 160 kilometres (100 miles) from the city of Lucknow.
A man, identified by the police as Durgesh Kumar Singh, emerged from a crowd of about 150 onlookers, doused himself in petrol and then grabbed the local leader of Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party, engulfing the pair in flames.
Mr Singh sustained burns on 95 percent of his body, while the politician, Kamruzzama Fauji, is in a critical state with 75 percent burns, police said.
“This man suddenly came on the stage, poured petrol on himself and set himself on fire before tightly hugging one of the political guests,” said local photographer Pankaj Kumar Gupta.
“People were just too shocked to know what was happening,” said Mr Gupta, whose photos show the men engulfed in flames with spectators fleeing the scene.
Two other local politicians taking part in the show, Ram Kumar Singh and Chowdhary Hriday Ram Verma, also sustained minor burn injuries while trying to save the pair.
