Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi slammed the district administration of Uttar Pradesh's Hathras where over 123 people died in a stampede during a religious congregation. Rahul, who met the family members of the victims on Friday morning, said maximum compensation should be given as they are poor families.
The Rae Bareli MP, who set out from Delhi on Friday morning by road, first stopped at Aligarh where he met the kin of the victims from the district before heading to Hathras. He was accompanied by state Congress chief Ajay Rai, state Congress in-charge Avinash Pande, party spokesperson Supriya Shrinate and other office bearers.
A total of 121 people, mostly women, died in a stampede at self-styled godman Baba Bhole's satsang in Hathras on Tuesday.
In Aligarh, the Congress leader interacted with the family members of the victims. Seventeen people from Aligarh and 19 from Hathras died in the stampede.
Rahul Gandhi first reached Rai Pilakhna village in Aligarh around 7.15 am where he met families of the victims at Green Park and Vibhav Nagar near Navipur Khurd in Hathras. Rahul is said to have promised to help the victims' families after talking to the state government. Monu, a family member of the deceased, when asked about Gandhi's visit, said, "He also said that he will try his best to help (us), and will talk to the government as his party is not in power."
Later Rahul told media persons that he wanted to understand their situation. "It is a sad incident. Several people have died. I don't want to say this from a political prism but there have been deficiencies on the part of the administration and the important thing is that maximum compensation should be given as they are poor families," the Congress leader said.
He also requested Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to provide compensation open-heartedly. "A delay in providing compensation will not benefit anyone. I had a personal conversation with the family members of the deceased and they told me that there was no police arrangement. They are in shock," he added.
