At least eight people died and several others sustained injuries during a stampede at a public meeting of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) at Kandukur in the Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh Nellore district on Wednesday. According to the police, the incident occurred when former Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu arrived at the venue to address the public meeting.
The public meeting had thousands in attendance as TDP workers and supporters gathered at the venue. However, soon after Chandrababu Naidu‘s arrival at the venue to address the gathering, chaos ensued as people jostled and jumped into an adjoining drain canal to save themselves from what was fast turning into a stampede-like situation. The Indian Express cited police officials as saying that the seven people died when more people jumped into the drain.
However, some other media outlets have cited civic officials as saying that people fell into the open drainage canal after a cement railing broke, resulting in subsequent deaths and injuries.
Naidu, the Leader of Opposition in the state assembly, cancelled the public meeting and the roadshow and rushed to the local hospital to meet the families of the victims. Naidu has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh each for the families of the victims and asked his party leaders to ensure proper medical care to the injured. He has also promised to support the education of the children of the deceased.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed anguish at the loss of lives in the mishap and announced and announced Rs 2 lakh ex-gratia to the kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to those injured.
“Pained by the mishap at a public meeting in Nellore, AP. Condolences to the bereaved families. May the injured recover soon. An ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from PMNRF would be given to the next of kin of each deceased and the injured would be given Rs 50,000,” he tweeted.
The public meeting Naidu was scheduled to address was part of the TDP chief’s ‘Idemi Kharma Mana Rashtraniki (Why is our state facing this fate?)’ campaign in the run-up to the Assembly elections to be held in Andhra Pradesh in 2024.
Coining the “Quit Jagan, save AP” slogan for the party going into polls, Naidu recently declared at a public meeting in Kurnool that the 2024 assembly elections would be his last if the people of the state did not elect the TDP.