Three people died and 13 were admitted to a hospital with injuries after a stampede occurred at a public meeting, attended by Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief Chandrababu Naidu, in Andhra's Guntur on Sunday. While Naidu expressed "profound shock and grief" over the tragedy, his party, TDP, blamed the Andhra Pradesh government for the incident, saying it failed to provide adequate security.

"Is it not the police's responsibility to ensure adequate security and proper crowd control measures when a former Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition is attending an event? Looks like the Jagan regime is putting the people's lives at stake to carry out its blame game," TDP state president K Atchannaidu was quoted by news agency PTI as saying on Monday.

This is the second such incident that took place in the TDP chief's public meeting in a week. Eight people had died in a stampede on December 28 last year in Nellore.

Andhra Pradesh | Three people died and several were injured during a public meeting held by TDP leader N Chandrababu Naidu in Guntur district: Arif Hafeez, SP Guntur

8 people died recently in a stampede in Nellore during a public meeting by N Chandrababu Naidu. pic.twitter.com/9N1aU1gcjd— ANI (@ANI) January 1, 2023

> Explaining what transpired at the moment, a police official said that as soon as the organisers started distributing gifts, including sarees, the crowd swelled and they pushed the barricades away leading to a stampede.

> Naidu said he was aghast over the stampede and the death of poor people. "It is most unfortunate. I attended the event to encourage a voluntary organisation in its endeavour to help the poor. I am deeply pained that it ended in a tragedy," the former Chief Minister said.

> Naidu announced an ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh each to the kin of the deceased while the state government announced a relief of Rs 2 lakh each. TDP leader K Ravindra said he would pay another Rs 2 lakh each to the families of the deceased and Rs 1 lakh each to the injured persons.

> Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy "expressed shock over the stampede at Guntur and announced an ex gratia amount of Rs 2 lakhs each to the kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to the injured persons", the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said. Reddy also instructed officials to provide quality medicare to the injured.

గుంటూరులో జరిగిన తొక్కిసలాట దుర్ఘటనపై ముఖ్యమంత్రి శ్రీ వైయస్‌.జగన్‌ తీవ్ర దిగ్భ్రాంతి వ్యక్తంచేశారు. ఈ ఘటనలో పలువురు మరణించడం తనను కలచివేసిందన్నారు. గాయపడ్డవారికి మెరుగైన వైద్య సేవలు అందించాలని అధికారులను ఆదేశించారు. మరణించిన వారి కుటుంబాలకు ప్రభుత్వం అండగానిలుస్తుందన్నారు.

— CMO Andhra Pradesh (@AndhraPradeshCM) January 1, 2023

> Denying the TDP's allegations, Andhra Pradesh Health Minister V Rajini said that though this was a private programme, the state government had provided enough security. "Chandrababu Naidu should own up to the responsibility for the deaths," Rajini said. She alleged that the TDP campaigned for the past 10 days to woo people, assuring the distribution of gifts.

> Jagan Mohan Reddy's party YSR Congress Party tweeted: "Chandrababu..! Do you want the common man to be the victim of your publicity frenzy? How many more innocent people will be sacrificed for your votes and seats? Do you have answers to their questions?"

చంద్రబాబూ..! మీ పబ్లిసిటీ పిచ్చికి సామాన్యులే బలి కావాలా? మీ ఓట్ల కోసం, సీట్ల కోసం ఇంకెంత మంది అమాయక ప్రజలను బలితీసుకుంటారు? వీరి ప్రశ్నలకు మీ వద్ద జవాబు ఉందా ? @ncbn @JaiTDP#NararooparakshasuduCBN pic.twitter.com/pcEnvIfnZQ

— YSR Congress Party (@YSRCParty) January 1, 2023

(With inputs from PTI)

First Published:Jan 2, 2023 4:34 PM IST