Guwahati: As many as three women lost their lives in a stampede at a rally of Telugu Desam president and former chief minister Chandrababu Naidu in Andhra Pradesh’s Guntur district on January 1.
In the past four days, there have been two incidents in which fatalities occurred at a public gathering hosted by Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party.
Naidu declared Rs. 5 lakh in compensation for each family who lost a loved one, calling the tragedy “very tragic.”
Naidu has been organising a number of political gatherings throughout the state in order to be ready for the state’s assembly elections in 2024.
The incident took place after the public meeting was over and Naidu had left the location to go home.
Following the open forum, local Telugu Desam Party leaders organised a distribution of sarees to ladies as gifts from Chandrababu Naidu in anticipation of Sankranti, the harvest festival that would take place in two weeks.
“Approximately 4,000 women had gathered to obtain the Chandrababu Sankranti Kanuka. Barricades had been erected to keep queues moving. Dinner packets were being distributed on the other side. “Suddenly, a barricade gave way, and the stampede occurred,” an officer told the media.
Reporters were informed by the Guntur police chief that the show had received sufficient police protection.
According to an official, over 200 police officers and rope parties were deployed.
A barricade collapsed at the first counter which led to the event. The deputy superintendent of police was on the site at the moment and was able to save a few women.