3 fatalities in Chandrababu Naidu event, second stampede in less than a week

Hyderabad:

Three women died in a stampede at a rally of Telugu President Desam and former Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh state. This is the second incident in four days in which people lost their lives in a public event of Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party, which has held a series of political meetings across the state in preparation for the 2024 assembly elections in the state.

Mr. Naidu said the incident was very unfortunate and announced compensation of Rs 5 lakh for each family who lost loved ones.

A senior police officer from Andhra Pradesh told NDTV that the public meeting had been completed and Mr. Naidu had left the venue for his residence when the tragedy occurred.

After the public meeting, there was a program by the leaders of the local Telugu Desam party to distribute sarees as gifts from Chandrababu Naidu to the women for Sankranti, the upcoming harvest festival in a fortnight.

The officer told NDTV, “About 4,000 women gathered to get the Chandrababu Sankranti Kanuka. Barriers are erected, so queues can be maintained. On the other side, dinner packages were distributed. Suddenly a barricade gave way and the stampede occurred.” .

Guntur police chief told reporters that police protection is sufficient for the programme.

“200 policemen and a rope party were deployed. The accident occurred due to the collapse of the barrier at the first counter… The Deputy Commissioner of Police was on the spot at the moment and rescued some women,” he added.

On Wednesday, eight people — including a woman — died in a stampede in Nellore district during a roadshow by the former chief minister. Several people fell into an open channel while the locals of Kandkur were waiting for a glimpse of Mr. Naidu, who was coming there for a promotional tour.

Mr. Naidu immediately canceled the meeting and announced a compensation of Rs 24 lakh to the families who lost their loved ones. Mr. Naidu later continued his political meetings, which came under criticism.

YSR Congress leaders informally said that the stampede occurred due to delays in distribution of the Sankranti Kanuka sets. They claimed that people had been waiting for hours and became anxious.

Prime Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy blamed the Telugu Desam party chief for the deaths, saying his “obsession with publicity” had caused the tragedy, and demanded an immediate and public apology. Today, he expressed his shock about the stampede in Guntur. Officials have been directed to provide all possible medical assistance to the injured. He emphasized that the government supports families.

Kingarapu Achin Naidu, the state unit chief, blamed the state government for not making “proper” security arrangements to manage the crowd.

Reddy’s party is under pressure since Naidu has stepped up the pace of its political rallies and meetings. The massive crowds at its programs are seen as a sign of the resurgence of the TDP, which faced a crushing defeat by the YSR congress in 2019.

Naidu said the 2024 elections will be his last if people do not elect his party back to power.

Mr. Naidu’s son, Nara Lokesh, will soon start a walk which is expected to be a platform for young people. The 400-day march, which will cover more than 4,000 km, begins on January 27.