Stampede at Mayawati’s rally in Lucknow; two dead, several injured
LUCKNOW: At least two persons were killed and several others were injured after a stampede took place at an election rally addressed by Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati at Lucknow today.
According to a report, while two were suffocated to death, at least 13-15 persons are said to have been injured in the sudden mass panic. Several children are also said to be missing after the stampede broke out at the rally.
The incident happened when a large group was trying to force its entry from gate number 1 at the Kanshiram Smarak Sthal, the rally venue. The two women fell down in the melee and got crushed by others. The injured were taken to the Lokbandhu Hospital where the condition of one person was said to be critical.
All the injured are being taken to a nearby government hospital for medical treatment.BSP state president Ramachal Rajbhar, however, denied that people were killed in the stampede at Mayawati’s rally and said that one of the women, who lost her life in the rally, had died of humidity and not in the stampede.
A police officer blamed overcrowding as the reason behind the tragedy.Earlier today, BSP supremo Mayawati addressed a massive crowd in Lucknow on the tenth anniversary of Kansi Ram. The rally is said to have been attended by at least ten lakh people.
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At least two people have died and 28 injured after a stampede at the Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati’s rally in Uttar Pradesh. Hundreds are still searching for their friends and relatives in and around the rally site. Among those missing are 15 children, said police sources.
With BSP having a huge support base among the Dalits, it is mostly the poorest of the poor who attend its rallies.
With BSP having a huge support base among the Dalits, it is mostly the poorest of the poor who attend its rallies.
Ambulances found it difficult to access the area as the people, desperate to leave the rally site, blocked the roads, sources said. Doctors have been rushed to the spot.The BSP’s state chief Ram Achal Rajbhar said she had died due to the heat and humidity.The political leaders had left the site before the function had ended.In her speech.
Ms Mayawati — whose party is trying to capture power from the ruling Samajwadi Party in next year’s assembly elections had taken on the Narendra Modi government in Lucknow, saying it was spreading hatred and communalism in Uttar Pradesh and has failed to keep its promises for the state.
“Dalits are being targeted in various parts of the country in the name of cow protection,” she said.The BJP government, she said, has proved that it is not the government of the
