Lok Sabha elections 2024: Chaos erupts at Akhilesh Yadav's rally in Azamgarh, police resort to lathi charge
Visuals from the scene in the town of Saraymeer showed a chaotic fairground, littered with broken chairs and torn streamers. The police intervened and resorted to a lathi charge to control the situation.
FollowA rally led by Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh's Azamgarh on Tuesday (May 21) led to chaos, resulting in a stampede-like situation. The chaos erupted after the former Chief Minister arrived at the event, with over-eager party workers and supporters jostling and climbing over wooden barriers to catch a glimpse of Yadav.
As the pushing and shoving intensified, unruly sections of the crowd exacerbated the situation, leading to bedlam. This marks the third time a rally led by Yadav has ended in such disarray.
Visuals from the scene in the town of Saraymeer showed a chaotic fairground, littered with broken chairs and torn streamers. The police intervened and resorted to a lathi charge to control the situation.
Despite the chaos, Yadav and other leaders from the INDIA bloc remained on stage, repeatedly appealing for calm. However, their efforts were in vain until the police eventually restored order, allowing Yadav to address the crowd.
The rally was held for the Samajwadi Party candidate in the Lalganj Lok Sabha seat, which the party aims to win for the first time since Daroga Prasad's victory in 2004. In 2019, the seat was won by Sangeeta Azad of Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party.
In this election, Daroga Prasad has been fielded as the joint INDIA bloc candidate by the Samajwadi Party, facing off against the BJP's Neelam Sonkar and the BSP's Indu Chaudhry. The Lalganj seat will vote in the sixth phase on May 25.
This incident follows another disruption at Yadav's rally earlier this week in Prayagraj's Phulpur. That rally had to be canceled, leaving Yadav and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, who was also on stage, free for an impromptu chat. Supporters had broken through barricades, attempting to reach the stage, forcing the leaders to abandon their speeches.
