Two women were killed and at least 12 people injured on Sunday in a stampede after a massive rally by BSP chief Mayawati at the Kanshi Ram Smarak Maidan. "A few people coming down the stairs at one of the two gates lost balance and fell on each other. Shanti Devi (68) of Bijnore and another unidentified woman were killed in the incident due to suffocation," police said.
Rumours of a live power line having snapped triggered the stampede. The injured have been rushed to a local hospital, a BSP spokesperson said. Party's state unit chief Ram Achal Rajbhar, however, said the women died due to humidity and heat.
The BSP workers had gathered in large numbers at the ground on party founder Kanshi Ram's 10th death anniversary. In 2002, at least 12 party workers were killed and 22 injured at the Charbagh Railway station after a BSP rally in Lucknow.
According to NDTV, several children were reportedly missing in the chaos of the rally. More details of the stampede are awaited.
At the rally, the BSP supremo said that the party would not forge any pre-poll alliance in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab.
Mayawati asserted that the BJP-rule was biased against minorities and said, "Atrocities have been committed in the name of Goraksha and religious conversion." Mayawati told Muslim voters to not waste their votes on Samajwadi Party as it will benefit BJP.
She also called out the BJP for politicising the surgical strikes and said, "Natakbazi on surgical strikes by BJP is to divert attention of people from failure to perform on the promises made by it during the run-up to 2014 polls."
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