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Four girls injured after stampede-like situation in Congress’s Bareilly event
The event was organised by the district unit of the Congress under its Ladki Hoon, Lad Sakti Hoon (I am a girl and I can fight) poll campaign in Uttar Pradesh
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Four girls were injured in a near-stampede during a run organised by the Congress party in Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly district on Tuesday, police said. The injured were sent to a nearby hospital. They have been discharged after treatment, district officials said.
The event was organised by the district unit of the Congress under its Ladki Hoon, Lad Sakti Hoon (I am a girl and I can fight) poll campaign in Uttar Pradesh.
The injured were sent to a nearby hospital. They have been discharged after treatment, district officials said.
The event was organised by the district unit of the Congress under its Ladki Hoon, Lad Sakti Hoon (I am a girl and I can fight) poll campaign in Uttar Pradesh, where assembly elections are due in a few months.
Soon after the incident, videos of the event were circulated on social media. In one of the videos, some girls running in front can be seen tripping and falling to the ground, forcing those behind to stop suddenly. This almost resulted in a stampede and some of the participants were injured. Most participants were neither wearing masks nor following Covid protocols.
HT could not independently verify the authenticity of the videos.
The incident occurred at the beginning of the race. No complaint has been lodged in the matter, police said.
Congress leader and former Bareilly mayor Supriya Aron dismissed the incident. “When a stampede can happen in Vaishno Devi, these are just girls. It is human nature. But I want to apologise.” Her reference is to a recent stampede at Katra, on the route to Vaishno devi, which resulted in the death of 12 people.
She further claimed that the whole incident might even be a conspiracy.
Terming the incident unfortunate, Geeta Shakya, the Uttar Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) women’s wing chief, slammed the Congress for its “irresponsible” statements.
“First the Congress leaders lured these girls, using them for political gains, and then after the incident, the way they reacted on the incident was shameful. They did not provide first aid to the injured girls and later on, held them responsible for the incident,” Shakya said.
Close to 10,000 girls registered for the run, local Congress leaders said. The prizes included a scooter, smartphones, smart watches and medals.
“The Congress shamelessly compared the incident with the stampede at the Vaishno Devi temple. BJP cadres and local administration helped the students but the Congress leaders were only seen trying to cover up their mistake,” Shakya added.
