Watch: ‘Don’t want to politicise,’ says Rahul Gandhi after meeting Hathras stampede victims’ families

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, met with the families of the victims of the devastating Hathras stampede on Friday, July 5. The tragedy, which occurred on July 2, claimed the lives of 121 people and left 31 injured. 

Gandhi first stopped in Pilakhna village in Aligarh, where he offered condolences to the relatives of the four victims from the village who lost their lives in the stampede.

"A lot of families have been affected, and many people have died. I do not want to politicise this. There have been deficiencies in the system. I think they should get more compensation as these are very poor families. I request that the CM of UP provide compensation open-heartedly. They need it now, and more compensation should be given as soon as possible. The family members said that the police arrangement was not enough," Gandhi told reporters in Hathras.

This was the first visit of a senior Opposition leader to Aligarh and Hathras since the stampede took place. Congress party's Uttar Pradesh President Ajai Rai, in-charge Avinash Pande, party spokesperson Supriya Shrinate, and other office bearers accompanied Rahul Gandhi during the visit.

“He told us that he would help us with the help of the party. He asked us how everything happened,” a bereaved family member told news agency ANI after Rahul Gandhi’s visit.

From Aligarh, Rahul headed to Hathras, where the tragedy occurred, to interact with aggrieved families.

The stampede occurred on the evening of July 2 at a Satsang of religious preacher Suraj Pal, also known as Narayan Sakar Hari and Bhole Baba. An FIR has been registered in the incident, naming the organizers of the event. The preacher has not been named, however. Six organizers have been arrested so far in the case.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath visited the site of the tragedy on Wednesday and ordered a judicial probe into the incident. A three-member Judicial Inquiry Commission, headed by Justice (retd) Brijesh Kumar Srivastava, has been constituted to ensure the comprehensiveness of the subject matter and transparency in the inquiry.

The Judicial Commission will investigate the stampede incident over the next two months and submit its report to the state government.

Initial reports suggested that the stampede occurred when devotees rushed to seek blessings and collect soil from around the preacher's feet. When the security stopped the devotees, they started pushing one another, which caused several people to fall down, triggering the stampede.